Tunisia denies rumour of president’s visit to France

The Tunisian presidency has denied a rumour circulated by former MP for Nice Riadh Jeidan and some media outlets about an unannounced visit by President Kais Saied to the French city. Jeidan retracted what he wrote recently on his Facebook page, stressing that the news was fabricated.

“I thank Mr President for the surprise visit he made this morning to Nice, France,” wrote Jeidan. “The president, who was received by the Mayor of the city, expressed the Tunisian people’s solidarity with the French people and stressed the need for the unity of the two peoples to fight terrorism. He also paid a visit to the families of the three victims, offering condolences and sympathy on behalf of all Tunisians, and concluded the visit a while ago by meeting representatives of the Tunisian community and civil society in France. The president expressed the Tunisian state’s support in these difficult circumstances and called on the Tunisian community to resist all attempts to distort Tunisia’s image abroad.”

He added that, “His Excellency announced at the end of his visit that Tunisia will organise next December an international conference on ‘global means to confront takfir [declaring someone to be a disbeliever] and incitement sermons online’, with the participation of all brotherly and friendly countries concerned with the scourge of terrorism.”

Local media shared what the former MP had written, before Jeidan confirmed that the “news” was actually inspired by the aspirations of the Tunisian community in Nice. In this light, it was clearly written with more than a touch of sarcasm.

A post on Kais Saied’s Facebook page confirmed that the details shared online were false. In reality, President Saied spoke by phone with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, and affirmed his categorical rejection of all forms of violence and terrorism, stressing that some parties want beyond doubt to confuse many societies, including French society, and that Islam is innocent of these acts.

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