Tunisia opposition attacks Saied for allowing detained Algeria activist to travel

Opposition parties in Tunisia have criticised President Kais Saied after the French press confirmed that he granted Algerian activist, Amira Bouraoui, permission to travel after pressure from Paris.

Tunisia’s new Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar made an urgent call with his Algerian counterpart Ramtane Lamamra in an attempt to avoid a diplomatic spat after France’s Le Monde newspaper confirmed that Bouraoui was first transferred to a safe place at the French embassy in Tunis before the embassy obtained permission from Saied to allow her to travel to France instead of deporting her to Algeria.

Abdelwahab Elhani, head of the Al Majd Party, wrote: “Another diplomatic crisis with Algeria emerged due to the dismissal of Othman Jerandi and a strong official Algerian protest against France over the (secret and illegal evacuation) of a human rights activist who was present in Tunisia and was smuggled by the French embassy to avoid handing her over to Algeria.”

“The authorities of the exceptional measures in Tunisia preferred to satisfy France when they allowed its employees to carry out ‘the secret and illegal evacuation’,” according to the Algeria side, and to satisfy Algiers later by dismissing the minister and presenting him as a scapegoat, Elhani added.

“In morning and evening, Kais Saied boasts of national sovereignty and accuses everyone who disagrees with his opinion and position of treason. While he was the first to betray the nearest neighbour when he maliciously coordinated with the security services of a foreign state and receives instructions from an intelligence colonel to hand over an Algerian citizen who is affiliated with these services,” said Rafik Abdessalem, former minister and leader of the Ennahda movement.

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