Libya to reopen border with Sudan

The head of Libya’s Tripoli-based national unity government, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, announced on Monday the reopening of his country’s border with Sudan to help the movement of goods and people between the two countries, Anadolu has reported. Dbeibeh made the announcement in a video address to an economic forum organised by the Libyan-Sudanese Joint Economic Chamber held in Tripoli.

“The closure of the borders between Libya and Sudan is strange, and a fact that we do not accept,” he told participants at the forum. “I announce my decision to reopen the border with Sudan.”

In January, forces based in the east of Libya led by renegade General Khalifa Haftar, closed the border with Sudan following what he said was, “The escalation of dangers posed by the Sudanese armed opposition factions active in the border area with Libya.” The border zone between Libya and Sudan is a desert which is still controlled by pro-Haftar forces.

In his address, Dbeibeh affirmed his government’s intention to develop economic and trade relations with neighbouring countries, particularly Sudan. “Sudan has fresh water and fertile lands, and if it cooperates with Libya, it will be a food basket for itself and its neighbours as well.”

He also stressed the importance of holding a joint ministerial committee meeting between the two countries to activate a number of measures that will contribute to supporting free zones and trade. Concluding his speech, Dbeibeh invited the Chairman of the Sudan Transitional Sovereign Council, Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the head of the Sudanese government to visit Tripoli.

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