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| Africa North |
| Claims of extortion at Ras Jedir border crossing |
| 2015-04-11 |
| [Libya Herald] Some Libyans are being forced to pay bribes to cross the border into Tunisia at Ras Jedir, according to several travellers who have experienced problems at the western border post this week. One woman was told her car's paperwork was incorrect and was ordered to pay LD 500 to Libyan border guards to be able to drive out of the country. After the ordeal, she described spending five hours negotiating with the men, whom she said were masked and armed, before eventually being allowed to pass through. Other Libyans say they have been targeted depending on their hometown in Libya. Mohammed, from Derna, told the Libya Herald he was stopped for two hours and quizzed. Not wanting to wait any longer for what threatened to be lengthy verification processes for his documents, he paid LD 150 -- after negotiating the price down -- to get his passport stamped and proceed towards Tunisian passport control. A Benghazi resident, Muftah, said he was detained at the border by what he described as a militia, and pressurised into paying LD 200. As a resident from Benghazi's Al-Laithi district, currently the scene of fierce festivities between Libyan National Army (LNA) and rebel forces including Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libyaand Yemen, with the Libyan versions currently most active. Tunisia's Shabaab al-Tawhid started out an Ansar al-Sharia and changed its name in early 2014. It still uses the old name now and then, probably because the stationery's not all used up and the web site hasn't expired yet... -affiliated fighters, he said he felt he was targeted as a potential supporter of the Beida-based government. Other travellers, however, both Libyans and foreigners, have continued to cross the border in both directions without experiencing any such problems. Although the border is monitored by official border guards, since the Revolution loose control has been held by local brigades from the nearby Amazigh town of Zuwara. When Libya Dawn ...aka Fajr Libya, the Islamist operation launched to counter that of General Khalifa Haftar (Operation Dignity). It is made up of the Libya Shield militia (Misrata and Moslem Brotherhood), Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (Moslem Brotherhood), and Tripoli Brigade (close to Abdul Hakim Belhaj, head of Al-Watan party). Financing and moral support come from Turkey and Qatar... took control of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... in August, fighters from Zuwara aligned themselves with movement. However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... most Libya Dawn fighters have reportedly not received their salaries for the last three months, while the Tripoli government attempts to activate a system of paying salaries based on national ID numbers. One regular traveller said it was widely-known in the local area that Tunisian fuel smugglers continued to bribe local brigades to turn a blind eye to them carrying fuel from Libya to Tunisia, where petrol is much higher in price. |
| Posted by:Fred |