Tunisia detains armed European diplomats en route from Libya

Tunisia’s defence ministry detains 24 Europeans with diplomatic passports after forcing them to hand over weapons.

Tunisian Defence Minister Abdelkareem Zubaidi said on Tuesday that two armed groups of Europeans coming from Libya crossed the border and were forced to hand over their weapons.

He said an armed group of 13 French nationals tried on Sunday to cross the land border under diplomatic cover in four-wheel drive vehicles via the Ras Jedir border crossing.

“The militants of the group refused to hand over their weapons at first, but the military authorities at the crossing forced them to do so,” Zubaidi added.

The French embassy in Tunisia said they were security guards for the ambassador.

Zubaidi also said two rigid inflatable boats tried on Wednesday to cross the maritime border from Libya, carrying 11 armed Europeans with diplomatic passports.

Ibrahim Fraihat, an associate professor of conflict resolution at the Doha Institute, talks to Al Jazeera about what’s happening in Libya.