On Wednesday, Tunisia's President Kais Saied arrived in Libya for the first state visit between the neighboring countries since 2012 just days after the new unity government took office.
The Tunisian President was received by the President of the Libyan Presidential Council, Mohamed al-Mnifi at the Maitiga International Airport in Tripoli.
It is expected that Saeed, during this visit, will hold talks with the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdulhamid al-Dbaiba, and Al-Mnifi, to be followed by a press conference.
In a statement, the Tunisian Presidency's media office said that the visit aims to strengthen co-operation between Tunisia and Libya and to develop solidarity for increased stability and prosperity.
During the visit, Kais aims to show Tunisia's support for the democratic process in Libya following the swearing-in on Monday of new interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbaiba on a pledge to reunite the pided country and lead it to December elections.
Tunisia hosted UN-backed talks between representatives of Libya's warring factions late last year that helped pave the way for the fragile breakthrough.
Before Libya's descent into chaos following the 2011 overthrow of veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi in an uprising that sparked a Nato intervention, the oil-rich country was a major customer for Tunisian farm produce and building materials as well as migrant labor.
The long years of conflict have resulted in prolonged border closures that have hit the volume of business, particularly in the informal trade in consumer goods that is an economic mainstay in border areas.
Successive Tunisian governments strove to avoid publicly taking sides between Libya's rival administrations in the east and west that fought themselves to a bloody standstill before making way this week for the new UN-backed unity government led by Dbaiba.
Follow the latest news on Google News
