Tunisian premier in Tripoli

Tunisian Prime Minister Hamed Karoui arrives today in Tripoli to meet with his Libyan counterpart Muhammad al-Manqoush to hold talks for strengthening "closeness and integration" between Tunisia and Libya.

During his meeting with Karoui, earlier in the day, the Tunisian President Zein al-Abidin Bin Ali underlined the importance of strengthening Tunisian -Libyan cooperation.

Relations between the two countries have been greatly improved during the two past years. In 1996, the two countries decided to increase volume of annual bilateral trade to US $300 million. They started to implement joint projects in the field of energy.