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By Ashraf Abdul Wahab.
Tripoli, 10 December:
An Egyptian died and several others were injured on Saturday in a car chase with security . . .[restrict]forces from Tobruk.
The men are reported to have entered the country illegally through a desert route near the Jaghboob area.
“The group were chased in the car they travelling in, but the car overturned during the chase”, a well-informed source told the Libya Herald. “The driver was able to escape in another car which was accompanying them but was not carrying any immigrants.”
The source added that the injured were given medical aid and steps were now being taken to send them back across the border into Egypt. According to a medical source in Tobruk, another of the Egyptians is in a critical condition.
The incident comes just days after local leaders from Tobruk and the Matrouh area brokered an agreement to help improve fractured relations between Libyans and Egyptians living on either side of the border.
Tensions have been high for several months, with Libyan drivers reporting frequent harassment and even violence at the hands of locals once inside Egypt, with similar accusations being leveled at Libyan security forces from the other side.
There are also concerns at the large number of illegal traffic being smuggled across the border. In the past ten days goods drivers from both Egypt and Libya have been refusing to take deliveries across the border and even pledging to picket other commercial traffic.
The drivers agreed to end their protest last week following the conclusion of negotiations, but with border controls still comparatively weak, smuggling and illegal migration look set to be continued problems for both sides for the foreseeable future. [/restrict]
