Tunisia: Official suffers due to suspicious envelope

By Ali Abo Rezeg

TUNIS, Tunisia (AA) - The Tunisian president's office said on Thursday that the director of the presidential office suffered "almost total loss of vision and fainted" once opened a suspicious envelope, according to a statement issued by the Tunisian Presidency.

Late Wednesday, the Tunisian presidency said a suspicious envelope was received by the Carthage Palace, the country's official news agency reported.

It added that President Kais Saied did not receive/open the envelope but it was opened by an employee.

The official source noted that the envelope and the powder were sent to a lab for tests.

Meanwhile, an unofficial Facebook page holding the president's name said Saied was subjected to a poisoning attempt through a letter that contained "toxic ricin material".

On Aug. 21, a Tunisian daily said the police received reports over attempts to poison the president by bread that comes to the presidential office. The Tunisian police, however, investigated the case and found it untrue.