Libya closes borders, declares martial law in south
LIBYA: Libya ordered the closure of its borders with four of
its neighbours on Sunday, as it declared martial law in its vast desert
south in the face of mounting unrest, state media reported.
The National Assembly ordered the “temporary closure of the land
borders with Chad, Niger, Sudan and Algeria pending new regulations” on
the circulation of people and goods, said a decree carried by the
official LANA news agency. “The provinces of Ghadames, Ghat, Obari, Al-Shati,
Sebha, Murzuq and Kufra are considered as closed military zones to be
ruled under emergency law,” the decree stipulated.
It gave the defence ministry powers to appoint a military governor
with authority to arrest fugitives from justice, and detain and deport
illegal immigrants.
Assembly member Suad Ganur who represents the city of Sebha, much the
largest in the south, said the border closure was a “temporary measure”
that would last only “until security has been restored.”
She said there had been an “increase in the flow of illegal
immigrants in the expectation of eventual international military action
in Mali” against Al-Qaeda-linked rebels, who have seized much of the
north of the country.
She said the move was also in response to an “upsurge in violence and
drug trafficking, and the presence of armed groups that act with
complete impunity.”
Prime Minister Ali Zeidan returned on Friday from a regional tour
that took him to all four neighbouring countries, promising to reach
agreement with them on securing the borders against “terrorists.”
Southern members of the National Assembly had been boycotting it
sessions since early this month in protest at the lawlessness plaguing
the region.
Almost 200 prisoners escaped from a jail in Sebha on December 4 with
the apparent collusion of warders in what deputies described as the
“final straw” in ending their patience with the authorities’ security
policy.
AFP |