Tunisian President starts visit to Libya tomorrow

Tunisian President Zein al-Abidin Bin Ali starts tomorrow Saturday an official visit to Libya which will last for two days. This is President Bin Ali's third visit since he assumed power in Tunisia in 1987 and the first since UN sanctions were suspended from Libya.

This visit comes in reply to a similar visit carried out by the Libyan President Muammar al-Qaddafi to Tunisia in 1999. Intensive exchanged visits between the two countries reflect the stability in bilateral relations.

The visit is expected to result in improving bilateral relations and the resumption of direct airline between the two states which have been halted since the imposition of sanctions on Libya.

Worth noting is that Tunisia and Libya reached during the first visit carried out by President Bin Ali to Tripoli a political settlement to the disputes over the continental " rift area" shared by the two countries. The disputes was submitted to the international court of Justice in the Hague under the reign of the former Tunisian President al-Habib Bourqieba.

According to this agreement the two states started joint investment of the area which supposed to be rich in oil. They formed a joint establishment for oil digging and exploration.