Libya's civil war is spilling over into Tunisia, particularly into the southern island of Djerba, where the majority of the country's Jews live. Al Qaeda terrorists, who have become increasingly active, have begun to use the area as a route to smuggle arms from various locations into Libya.
Libyan refugees and opposition forces have been fleeing across the border into Tunisia to escape the fighting – often with Libyan government forces at their heels.
The refugees have poured into Djerba by the thousands, followed by Libyan missiles aimed at their backs.
For weeks, the Tunisian government has warned Libya that it will not tolerate continued missile and mortar attacks on its territory – to no avail.
Two members of the Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb terrorist organization (AQIM) were arrested two weeks ago in a village just a half hour away from a Jewish town on the island. A large weapons cache was also discovered close by.
A Tunisian source told the Reuters news agency that Safia, the wife of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi and his daughter Aisha crossed the border into Tunisia and came to Djerba on May 14.
Other news agencies quoted a Libyan opposition source who said the women were in Tunisia to accompany Aisha's husband, who was wounded in the Libyan civil war wracking the country. Al Jazeera quoted a Tunisian ministry spokesman who said the government would arrest any members of the Qaddafi household should they enter the country due to a United Nations-imposed travel ban.
Libyan Oil Minister Shukri Ghanem, also head of the country's national oil company, also crossed into Tunisia and reportedly defected.
Although Libyan officials denied the report, Abdel Moneim al-Houni, a former Libyan Arab League representative who was among the first to abandon the government, confirmed the report. He told the Associated Press that no official announcement had been made out of concern for the safety of Ghanem's family members, some of whom had remained in Tripoli.
If true, Ghanem will be the highest-level Libyan official to have defected since al-Houni abandoned the government at the outset of the rebellion.