MBS’s Tunis visit will only include talk with president

TUNIS (AA) – Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman will only meet with President Beji Caid Essebsi during a scheduled trip to Tunis on Tuesday evening amid ongoing protests against his visit.

While Tunisian officials have been tight-lipped regarding bin Salman’s itinerary, a well-informed source said the crown prince would arrive in Tunis at around 3:00 p.m. local time.

According to the same source, who spoke to Anadolu Agency anonymously due to restrictions on speaking to media, bin Salman’s visit will only include a meeting with President Essebsi.

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

In advance of the visit, activists have held protests in Tunis against the crown prince, 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.

A CIA assessment released earlier this month appeared to implicate bin Salman in Khashoggi’s murder, which occurred on Oct. 2 inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Bin Salman is visiting Tunisia as part of a wider regional tour that has already brought him to the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

Tunisia was the birthplace of the "Arab Spring" uprisings that rocked the Middle East and North Africa in 2011 and which led to the overthrow of Tunisia’s authoritarian Zein Al Abidine Ben Ali regime.

After fleeing Tunisia amid mounting demonstrations against his rule, Ben Ali eventually sought refuge in Saudi Arabia, where he currently resides.