Despite official denials, a diplomatic rift between Egypt and Libya seems to be in the making, Rasha Saad reports "The border post at Salloum is nearly deserted," an officer at the Egyptian border crossing with Libya said on Monday. "The movement of [Egyptian] cars has dropped from 2,000 to 80 vehicles per day." Problems at the Egyptian-Libyan border began on Friday when -- according to Egyptian border police -- about 300 Egyptians heading for Libya were turned back at the Salloum border crossing. Another 400 were reportedly sent back on Saturday. About 30 lorries were also denied entry. Libyan border authorities demanded that the Egyptians show them they had valid work contracts and at least $350 before letting them cross. Egyptians had previously needed only their identity cards to cross the border. The more stringent regulations were an especially surprising development for the many Egyptians who live in Libya who were trying to head back after celebrating the New Year in Egypt. Egyptian authorities have responded to Tripoli's move by refusing entry to more than 1000 Libyans since Friday. Exceptions were made for 113 Libyans with health problems who were allowed to enter Egypt on Sunday. Officials in both capitals were quick to play down the developments. On Friday, Tripoli dismissed the allegation that it had imposed new visa restrictions on Egyptians as "lies". Deputy Foreign Minister Hassouna Al- Shawsh told news agencies that Libya has "not imposed any entry visa on Egyptians in Libya; these are baseless lies". He also said that Tripoli had not been officially informed of Egypt's alleged decision to impose new visa restrictions on Libyans. Compounding the confusion, Egyptian Information Minister Safwat El- Sherif also denied that Libya had closed its border, insisting that, "there were no differences of opinion between" the two nations. Diplomatic sources in Tripoli blamed the bilateral tension on Libya's "irritation" about a "campaign waged in the Egyptian press, including governmental newspapers, against Libya" for its decision to come clean regarding its weapons of mass destruction. Libya's recent announcement that it would dismantle its weapons of mass destruction and allow international inspections of its nuclear facilities took the Arabs in particular, and the world in general, by surprise. Libyan officials said that the move followed nine months of talks with officials from the US and the UK. The Egyptian press -- including pro- government media outlets-- said Libya's unilateral decision had weakened Arab efforts to force Israel to abandon its undeclared nuclear weapons programme. Although President Hosni Mubarak welcomed Libya's move as a step towards making Israel follow suit, his political advisor Osama El-Baz hinted that the decision posed a problem. "It is impossible to eliminate these weapons in the region unilaterally because this could create a dangerous upset in the security and strategic balance between Arabs and Israelis." On Saturday, the Press Syndicate said that the Libyan Embassy had filed a complaint with the prosecutor-general against 15 journalists from opposition and independent newspapers that allegedly criticised Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for making such a move. Reports also appeared in the press last week claiming that Libya and Israel had held talks about forging diplomatic ties, which Libya has denied. Reports of alleged secret contacts between Libya and Israel received widespread global coverage last week following Israeli press claims that Ron Prosor, the Israeli foreign minister's chief political advisor, met with Libyan Foreign Ministry officials in Paris late last month. Despite Israeli reports that officials from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office leaked false information about the meetings to sabotage attempts to begin a dialogue with Libya, Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, the Libyan leader's son, told Arab satellite channel Al- Jazeera earlier this week that these kinds of rumours were not being spread by Israel, but by envious Arabs. "All of the recent moves with the US and Britain to end Libya's diplomatic isolation have caused envy among some Arabs who criticised us for not consulting them first and, consequently, are spreading rumours against us," he said. Political observers believe that the young Gaddafi was referring to Egypt in his statements. Egyptian and Arab analysts have indeed criticised the fact that Libya took part in nine months of secret contacts with US and British officials without informing any Arab countries, including Egypt. Some observers, meanwhile, are describing the whole affair as a mere storm in a teacup. They cite as a positive sign the fact that those who are travelling between the two countries by plane have not faced any new restrictions. Egyptian airport sources said 173 Libyans entered Egypt by obtaining their visa directly at the airport, as they have done for years, after authorities dropped an initial demand that they obtain the visas first in Libya. There were no reports of Egyptians who had flown into Libya needing anything other than their identity papers to proceed. Parliament's labour committee still plans to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the matter with Manpower Minister Ahmed El-Amawi. Nearly two million Egyptians work in Libya. In an attempt to contain the rift, a high-ranking Libyan official also arrived in Cairo on Sunday, and is expected to hold talks with several Egyptian officials on ways to end the crisis.
