TRIPOLI, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia officially decided to reopen its consulate in the Libyan capital Tripoli after nearly a three-year closure following the kidnapping of Tunisian diplomats, the Libyan Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
"The Tunisian Consulate has officially begun working through Consul General Tawfik al-Qasmi and eight diplomats representing the staff of the Tunisian Consulate in Libya," the ministry said in a statement.
The statement added that the reopening of the consulate was a result of efforts and discussions between the Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Sayala and his Tunisian counterpart Khemaies Jhinaoui.
The Tunisian authorities closed the Tunisian Consulate in Tripoli in June 2015, after a militia kidnapped 10 diplomats and staff members of the consulate and demanded the release of a senior militia leader detained in Tunisia.
Wissam Jameh, director of the Libyan diplomatic security, said that the consulate is "secured in accordance with our security plan to protect and secure embassies and diplomatic missions in Libya."
"There are a number of embassies preparing to reopen in Tripoli," Jameh told Xinhua.
Most embassies and diplomatic missions to Libya left Tripoli in July 2014 after heavy clashes broke out between rival armed groups, which created the current political division in the country.
