Tunisian FM defends his country’s role in the Libyan crisis

Tunisian Foreign Minister Khamis Al Jeheinawy said that it is not fair to talk about the absence of Tunisian role in the Libyan affairs, saying that his country is the only one among the neighboring states that kept its borders open with Libya during the recent period.

He added that the Tunisian government works to deal neutrally with the Libyan crisis stressing that they work to find a political solution for the current problem without excluding any of the political parties. He added that they give priority to the keeping of Libya’s unity, adding that they coordinate with other neighboring states to keep the country’s territorial integrity.

He added that the Tunisian government submitted an initiative to resolve the Libyan crisis, adding that both Tunisia and Algeria expressed their support for the Tunisian initiative which turned to be the basis upon which the three countries move to support the political dialogue between the conflicting parties in Libya.

The Tunisian official defended his country’s position from the UN Security Council’s resolution to condemn the Syrian regime for the violation committed against the Syrian people, saying that his country decided to abstain from voting as it was not balanced position. He added that it condemned the Syrian regime, while ignored the violations committed by other parties inside the country.

On the other hand, French Prime Minister Bernard Kaznov is scheduled to visit Tunisia on Friday to meet with a number of Tunisian officials to discuss the ways to support the bilateral relations during the coming period.

The French prime minister is scheduled to meet with Tunisian President Beji Caed Essebssi and a number of Tunisian officials, including the speaker of parliament and Tunisian prime minister. The French officials will discuss bilateral relations and sign agreements regarding the economic and security issues.