InfoAnda - Smuggling stirs trouble on Tunisia's Libya border |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Anti-globalisation 'utopias' enter mainstream | 11 February 2011
Thailand seeks extension to emergency rule | 6 July 2010
Judge Convicts Teen For Mom's Murder Over Video Game | 14 January 2009

Bus bomb kills 14 Afghans | 17 December 2010

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Smuggling stirs trouble on Tunisia's Libya border |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Jack & Suzy Welch Fred Kempe Christopher Papagianis Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (0) Slideshow Full Focus Editor's Choice Our best images from the last 24 hours. See more photos Images of April Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Italy scientists say they have found oldest human blood 11:26am EDT Special Report: Inside Chesapeake, CEO ran $200 million hedge fund | 12:07pm EDT Protestors just say no to Dutch cannabis ban 01 May 2012 French presidential rivals in last ditch TV debate 01 May 2012 Dissident to stay in China, Beijing denounces US meddling | 12:10pm EDT Discussed 578 George Zimmerman: Prelude to a shooting 106 Suicides have Greeks on edge before election 85 Insight: Falling home prices drag new buyers under water Watched Obama swoops into Afghanistan on bin Laden anniversary Tue, May 1 2012 Windy weather makes for dramatic plane landings in Spain Thu, Apr 26 2012 Hillary Clinton in Beijing Tue, May 1 2012 Pictures Reuters Photojournalism Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption WTC rises again The new World Trade Center surpasses the Empire State Building as the tallest building in New York. Slideshow Killing Bin Laden The operation that killed the al Qaeda leader. Slideshow Smuggling stirs trouble on Tunisia's Libya border Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Syria violence kills 23, U.N. criticizes both sides Tue, May 1 2012 Taliban attack Afghanistan in "spring offensive" Sun, Apr 15 2012 Special Report: Brazil's "gringo" problem: its borders Fri, Apr 13 2012 Special Report: How Gaddafi scion went from reformer to reactionary Wed, Apr 11 2012 Libya struggles to contain tribal conflicts Sun, Apr 8 2012 Analysis & Opinion Who’s in charge of the world? No one The U.S. must move cautiously on Taliban reconciliation Related Topics World » Tunisia » Libya » 1 of 4. A man fills containers with gasoline at the southern Libya-Tunisia border crossing in Dehiba, April 17, 2012. In the absence of proper border controls after uprisings which ousted autocratic leaders in both Tunisia and Libya, smugglers plying unmarked desert routes on the Tunisian-Libyan border are becoming ever bolder, and disputes over smuggling routes are becoming ever more violent. Picture taken April 17, 2012. To match Feature TUNISIA-SMUGGLING/ Credit: Reuters/Zoubeir Souissi By Lin Noueihed and Tarek Amara DEHIBA, Tunisia | Wed May 2, 2012 10:23am EDT DEHIBA, Tunisia (Reuters) - An empty pickup truck veers off the winding road near the Tunisian hamlet of Ouni, separated from Libya by only a few hundred meters of unmarked scrub. Three men jump out and begin to stack gallon bottles full of contraband petrol on the back. The fuel is destined for the provincial town of Tataouine, where they will sell it at a mark-up on the side of the road or push it on to traders who distribute it further afield. "We buy 100 bottles of 20 liters each -- they call them gallons -- each time. We have no other source of income. There is no work here," said Mohammed Abdel Haq, 57, pushing open the metal door to his home and welcoming visitors into a living room containing only two plastic chairs. Even inside, the concrete walls are unpainted. Tattered rugs cover the floor and flimsy mattresses line the wall. "We call our Libyan contacts in Nalout and say we want a 100 cans and agree on a place to meet on the border to pick it up." Outside, five rusting pickup trucks without number plates sit empty, awaiting the next trip across the desert. Plastic containers soak the bare, sandy ground, ready for collection. In the absence of proper border controls after uprisings that ousted autocratic leaders in Tunisia and Libya, smugglers plying unmarked desert routes are becoming ever bolder, and disputes are becoming ever more violent. In April, a Libyan militia in the western town of Zawiya took at least 80 Tunisian migrant workers hostage to protest the arrest of three of its own members caught smuggling drugs by Tunisian border guards. Both the Tunisians and Libyans were freed after talks, Tunisia's news agency media said. Earlier in April, five Tunisian smugglers were taken hostage by gunmen from Zuwara, another western Libyan town, in a dispute over fuel smuggling. They were later released. And in February, Tunisian forces killed two gunmen and captured a third after clashes with a group of Islamist militants caught with arms smuggled from Libya. GANGS IN THE NIGHT The incidents highlight one of the many challenges Libya's National Transitional Council has faced in imposing its authority over myriad armed groups. They also expose how underequipped and understaffed Tunisian border guards have been left helpless to crush a trade often carried out by heavily-armed gangs. Those involved in the highly secretive arms trade are often part of well-connected gangs and travel in the dead of night with their lights turned off, locals say. "We don't have the weapons to fight the smugglers. Sometimes we chase people but our cars are not good enough and the Libyans are armed. Sometimes they have rocket-propelled grenade launchers and other weapons and we need to think of our lives," said one Tunisian border guard at the Dehiba crossing, a flashpoint during the 2011 Libya war. "The smuggling happens across the borders, not through the crossing, and it goes on daily, day and night." On April 17, locals tried to cut off the road leading to the border crossing at Dehiba, which is surrounded on all sides by miles of endless scrub, to keep the Libyans out, the guard said. "Because the border police arrested those Libyans over the drugs, their families started turning back Tunisians and refusing to sell them petrol," he said. "So the Tunisians were protesting against the Libyans." SMUGGLING A LIFELINE Smuggling is a lifeline in these Tunisian borderlands, where desert scrub stretches into Libya's barren western mountains. Everything from livestock and food to beer and whisky makes the journey from Tunisia into Libya, where factories and farms have been hit by last year's rebellion and alcohol is banned. Even Tunisian-mined phosphate, official exports of which have been hit by strikes and protest, finds its way into Libya. But by far the most popular trade is in petrol, subsidized and cheap in oil-exporting Libya, which is smuggled to Tunisia, a net fuel importer that has struggled with rising world prices. Smuggling was rife before the Arab Spring toppled dictators, but it was a dangerous business carried out by a determined few. In the security vacuum that has emerged since, locals say it has become the main livelihood in Tunisian border areas, remote, lacking factories or services and too dry for extensive farming. Abdel Haq says his sons do up to 20 runs a day, bringing in up to 2,000 liters of petrol or diesel. Prices fluctuate depending on the supply but Abdel Haq sells onto traders who then sell on directly motorists in more heavily populated areas. The further you go from the border, the higher the price, but Tunisian motorists who eventually have the fuel funneled into their tanks for upwards of 16 dinars ($10) are paying half what they would at a local petrol station. Even the unmarked trucks that ply the trade were bought in Libya for 1,000 dinars each, much cheaper than in Tunisia. "Before the revolution, sometimes the police would confiscate your car and take everything," Abdel Haq said. "Now they don't stop us because they know our situation. If there was something else for us we would stop turning to Libya." The situation has deteriorated so far that Libya's chief of staff, Yousef al-Manquosh, paid a visit to Tunisia's defense ministry on April 24 to coordinate on border security. "The shaky security situation on the border... requires a search for solutions and mechanisms to repel cross-border crime and the spread and smuggling of weapons," Tunisian Defence Minister Abdelkarim Zbidi said in a statement after the meeting. The prime minister acknowledged the problem in a speech to parliament, saying the traffic with Libya had grown so large that it was affecting the Tunisian economy. While analysts say that arms smuggling and the spread of militant groups poses more of a danger in countries such as Mali and Algeria, where insurgencies bubble, Tunisia could become a transit point for guns moving across North African borders. LITTLE CHOICE BUT TO COMPLY For locals, smuggling poses more of an economic challenge. In the border areas near Dehiba, trucks carrying petrol and livestock are out on the road, under the eyes of police. All along the main roads, shacks sell petrol brought in from Libya. But locals say the trade is becoming increasingly difficult as myriad checkpoints run by rival Libyan militias dot the road from Libya's western mountains to the Tunisian border. At each checkpoint, gunmen confiscate some gallons, hitting profits. Tunisians who make the journey into Libya say they have little choice but to comply. "The rebels are ruling there. I don't want to hear insults while I bring my petrol," said Mohammed Hawiwi, standing at the door of a shack meters from the Dehiba crossing. "Some even fired at us. We haven't responded but they cannot do this if they want to keep bringing everything else into Libya from here." Hawiwi says he is not a smuggler but does small-scale barter trade via the official border crossing, not through the desert. He says he has been forced to drive ever deeper into Libya's western mountains to collect his petrol, affecting his profit. Tunisians are not allowed to fill up themselves at Libyan petrol stations, where a 20-litre tank goes for the equivalent of 3 dinars. Tunisians buy from Libyans at more than double that price in Libya and add their own markup on crossing the border. Locals complain that food being smuggled or traded the other way -- into Libya -- has caused shortages and tripled the price of some fresh produce in Tunisian border areas. The price of tomatoes has risen more than five-fold in some border areas. Many feel they are getting a raw deal. Locals say they feel a special bitterness as Tunisians across the frontier province of Tataouine opened their homes to Libyan refugees in the war. "If you don't like it who do you talk to?" said Hawiwi. "There is no one to talk to. It is ruled by militias and they each have different ideas and change their minds." (Editing by Sonya Hepinstall) World Tunisia Libya Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Wednesday, 2 May 2012
Obama swoops into Afghanistan on bin Laden death anniversary |
Car bomb kills six after Obama leaves Afghan capital |
Clinton confronts dissident case ahead of China talks |
Suu Kyi makes historic debut in Myanmar parliament |
Five killed in clashes near Egypt's Defense Ministry |
North Korea suspected of jamming flight signals in South |
Japan could face day of reckoning if tax plans fail: Moody's |
Valencia, a cruel reflection of Spain's economic woes |
Facebook's IPO show to hit the road on May 7: source |
RIM BlackBerry 10 prototype fails to wow investors |
Online simulator lets average Joe slay U.S. debt dragon |
Dell sees brisk sales of new ultrabooks |
Hunger Games battles Bridesmaids at MTV Movie Awards |
Hugs and tears on Voice semifinal as four singers leave |
Jaleel White takes his final bow on Dancing |
Oscars venue christened The Dolby Theater |
LA film fest unveils lineup, ends with Soderbergh movie |
Louis C.K., Pinterest, Spotify win Webby Awards |
YouTube covets TV gold with new channels |
Hollywood's summer of superheroes and sequels, again |
Jessica Simpson gives birth to baby girl |
Spoofs take steam out of Fifty Shades of Grey |
Dissident to stay in China, Beijing denounces US meddling |
Syria accused of war crimes, rebels kill 15 |
U.N. Council threatens Sudan, South Sudan with sanctions |
Ally of Kosovo PM acquitted of war crimes |
Drowned former oil boss was wanted in Libya |
Kuwait says stateless protesters carried out criminal acts |
Smuggling stirs trouble on Tunisia's Libya border |
Iran seeks end to sanctions at talks, hits out at France |
German court rules against Microsoft in Motorola patent fight |
Target to stop selling Amazon's Kindle devices |
Nokia files patent lawsuits against HTC, RIM |
IBM to buy Tealeaf Technology |
RIM close to hiring marketing chief, CEO says |
Boeing says new 737 winglet will save fuel |
Nokia and Carl Zeiss extend camera phone deal |
Microchip Technology to buy SMSC for $830 million |
Facebook's IPO show to hit the road on May 7: source |
Elpida bondholders threaten to thwart auction: filing |
A Minute With: Scarlett Johansson and the Black Widow |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01