TRIPOLI - Libya's ruling national congress ordered the temporary
closure of its borders with four of its neighbors on Sunday and declared
its vast desert south a closed military zone in the face of growing
unrest.
The national assembly ordered the
"temporary closure of the land borders with Chad, Niger, Sudan and
Algeria pending new regulations," a decree carried by the official LANA
news agency said.
It added that the provinces of
Ghadames, Ghat, Obari, al-Shati, Sabha, Murzuq and Kufra "are
considered as closed military zones."
The decree
also gave the defense ministry powers to appoint a military governor,
from outside the area, with authority to arrest fugitives from justice
and deport illegal immigrants.
Prime Minister
Ali Zeidan returned from a regional tour last week, during which he
called for a meeting in Libya with Niger, Mali, Chad and Sudan to secure
regional borders.
Several southern members of
the congress have boycotted sessions recently in protest against
lawlessness plaguing the south, citing increased violence by armed
groups there as well as drug trafficking.
"This
decision shows that the congress understands the situation in the south,
where the security is bad," Mohamed Menawi Al-Houdhiery, a congress
member from Sabha, told Reuters.
Earlier this
month, nearly 200 prisoners escaped from a jail in Sabha, which has also
seen tribal clashes since the end of last year's war that ousted
Muammar Gaddafi.
Restoring order in the south is not only important internally for Libya but also for stability in the wider region.
In the chaos that followed Gaddafi's fall, the south was used as a smuggling route for weapons reaching al Qaeda in the Sahara. — Reuters
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