Tunisian parliament speaker under threat of assassination: Adviser

TUNIS, Tunisia

An adviser to Tunisian Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi warned Thursday of “a serious assassination threat” against Ghannouchi.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Riyad al-Suaybi said he received information from the Interior Ministry officials who came to Ghannouchi's office in the Tunisian parliament.

"There is a serious threat of assassination against the speaker of the parliament," he said, adding that officials will strengthen measures to protect Ghannouchi.

"If we want to know who could be involved in or benefit from such a criminal plot, we must remember the political and national significance of Ghannouchi as one of the symbols of the democratic transition in Tunisia," he said.

“Those who target the democratic transition in Tunisia are also those who plan to assassinate the speaker of the assembly,” he added.

The Interior Ministry has yet to make a statement on the issue.

Tunisia was the birthplace of the Arab Spring revolutions that swept the leaders of several Arab countries from power in 2011.

Ghannouchi, who has served as parliament speaker since Nov. 13, 2019, is one of the most prominent political figures in the country who opposed the rule of deposed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (1987-2011).

After 20 years in exile, Ghannouchi returned to Tunisia on Jan. 14, 2011.

Meanwhile, night protests have continued for a third night in a row in the district of Sidi Hussein west of the capital Tunis after the death of a young man following his arrest by the security officers on Tuesday.

The protesters clashed intermittently with the security forces who have in return fired tear gas to disperse the protesters, Anadolu Agency correspondent reported.

Eyewitnesses said protests intensified after a video showing the arrest of another young man by the police on Wednesday during the protests with his clothes stripped went viral on social media.

* Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara