Libya’s north African neighbours have expressed fears over the country’s continued descent into chaos, and are planning an urgent meeting to co-ordinate border controls to deal with the unrest they fear will spread.
A senior Algerian diplomat, Abdelkader Messahel, called on Sunday for the meeting in Tunisia. He said Libya should install its newly proposed government quickly “and restore order to this country.” The 18-member Libyan government must still be approved by parliament, which rejected a previous proposal.
Tunisia, the only nation to emerge from the Arab Springs unrisings with a democracy, has suffered multiple attacks at the hands of the Islamic State extreemists trained in Libya, and officials there fear contagion from Libya’s instability.
Algeria also has fought ongoing battles with Islamic extremists, and both countries fear Western military intervention will exacerbate the problem.
