Tunisia

21 Sep 2022; MEMO: Tunisia's anti-terrorism police detained former Prime Minister and senior official in the Ennahda Party, Ali Laarayedh, for one day after an investigation into suspicions of sending jihadists to Syria, lawyers said yesterday according to Reuters.

It is expected that Laarayedh will appear before a judge today, lawyer Mokthar Jmayi said.

"We are shocked..the file is completely empty and without any evidence," Samir Dilou, another lawyer, said.

TUNIS, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia's prosecution service on Tuesday detained Ali Larayedh, a former prime minister, on his suspicion of sending jihadists to Syria.

Prosecutors decided to detain Larayedh, also vice-president of the Ennahdha Party after he was questioned for hours by investigators from the Interior Ministry for his suspicion of sending jihadists to Syria, Larayedh's lawyer Samir Dilou said in a statement.

20 Sep 2022; MEMO: Five Tunisian parties yesterday announced their boycott of the legislative elections which President Kais Saied called to be held in December.

This came during a press conference held in the capital, Tunis, by the Republican Party, Workers' Party, Democratic Modernist Pole, Democratic Current and the Democratic Forum for Labour and Liberties.

20 Sep 2022; MEMO: The lawyers of Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi and his deputy Ali Larayedh have been prevented from attending their interrogation by the security services in Tunisia, Anadolu has reported.

16 Sep 2022; MEMO: Tunisia's Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) announced yesterday that it had received a "draft decree that regulates the legislative elections" from the president.

ISIE spokesperson, Mohamed Mansri, told the official Tunisian News Agency that "the ISIE Board is studying the draft since ISIE is a consultative body."

06 Sep 2022; MEMO: Political parties in Tunisia warned on Monday that the country is facing imminent "collapse" and "chaos". In a joint statement, they said that the government of President Kais Saied "is unable and unqualified to face challenges."

The Democratic Current, the Democratic Alliance for Labour and Freedoms, the Labour Party, the Republican Party and the Qutub Party added that, "In light of many indicators, it has become certain that the country is heading to a massive crisis that will threaten civil safety."

01 September 2022; MEMO: The partnership between the United States and Tunisia depends on Tunisia's commitment to democracy and human rights, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's Assistant for Near Eastern Affairs has said.

Speaking during a meeting with Tunisian President Kais Saied on Tuesday, Barbara Leaf said: "The partnership between the United States and Tunisia takes its strongest and highest levels when there is a shared commitment to democracy and human rights." She went on to stress the importance of implementing economic reforms.

01 September 2022; MEMO: The budget deficit in Tunisia declined 75 per cent during the first half of 2022, amid an increase in the country's fiscal revenue.

This was revealed according to data issued by the Tunisian Ministry of Finance, on Wednesday, which stated that the budget deficit in the first half reached 470.8 million dinars ($147.5 million), down from 1.9 billion dinars ($593.3 million).

TUNIS, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia foiled 51 illegal immigration attempts to cross the Mediterranean to the Italian coast, National Guard Spokesman Houcemeddine Jbabli said on Sunday.

Tunisia's Maritime Guard thwarted these illegal immigration attempts late Saturday and early Sunday off the country's southern, central-eastern and northern coasts, Jbabli said in a statement.

The Maritime Guard also rescued 723 illegal immigrants, including 346 from African countries, the spokesman added.

28 August 2022; MEMO: Some Tunisian shops are rationing goods including cooking oil, sugar and butter, while big queues have hit petrol stations amid a fuel shortage as the government navigates a looming crisis in public finances, Reuters reports.

Some grocery shops have restricted customers to single packs of items in short supply, while queues outside petrol stations have blocked traffic in parts of the capital.