Saudi crown prince arrives in Tunis amid protests

By Adel al-Thabti

TUNIS (AA) – Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman arrived Tuesday evening in Tunis en route from Egypt amid ongoing protests against his visit.

While Tunisian officials have been tight-lipped about his itinerary, a well-informed source told Anadolu Agency earlier that bin Salman’s brief visit would only include a meeting with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi.

In earlier statements, a Tunisian presidential spokesperson said that bin Salman’s visit had come at the request of the crown prince.

In advance of the visit, activists staged several protests in Tunis against bin Salman, who they accuse of having committed war crimes in Yemen.

On Monday, a group of Tunisian lawyers called for an investigation into bin Salman’s involvement in both an ongoing Saudi-led war against Yemen’s Houthi rebel group and last month’s killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a high-profile Saudi national.

Bin Salman’s tour is his first since Khashoggi, an occasional contributor to The Washington Post, was killed early last month inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

A CIA assessment released earlier this month appeared to implicate bin Salman in Khashoggi’s murder.

The Saudi crown prince is visiting Tunisia as part of a wider regional tour that has already brought him to the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.