Libyana deactivates foreign SIM cards in security measure

According to the Libya Observer, the country’s dominant cellco by subscribers, Libyana has deactivated all foreign subscribers’ SIM cards in order to ‘maintain national security’. The company reportedly said that all foreigners in Libya who wished to have their SIMs reactivated must bring a valid visa and passport photocopy to one of its business centres in Tripoli. The move comes after security sources said criminals and radical groups had been using Libyana numbers registered with foreigners’ IDs, chiefly African nationals involved in criminal activity using Libya as a gateway to Europe.