TUNIS, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian President Kais Saied and Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamed Dbeibah on Tuesday held a phone conversation on illegal immigration issues, said the Tunisian presidency.
"The two leaders discussed combining efforts to find urgent solutions to illegal immigration issues," the Tunisian presidency said in a statement.
During the phone call, Saied called for a new collective approach to eliminate the root causes of illegal immigration, proposing to hold an international meeting in this regard with the participation of all countries concerned.
The two sides also reaffirmed their common will to strengthen bilateral cooperation in all fields, according to the statement.
The call came after a Tunisian was stabbed on Monday evening by an illegal sub-Saharan immigrant in southeastern Tunisia's Sfax Province, in the latest incident of violence between Tunisians and sub-Saharans in several regions of the province.
Illegal immigration attempts from the Tunisian coasts toward Italy have been increasing over the past years despite the measures taken by the Tunisian authorities to deal with the problem. ■