Saudi Foreign Minister secretly visits Tunisia

The Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, arrived to Tunisia on Wednesday in a surprise visit. It marks the first official Saudi visit to Tunisia since the Tunisian revolution. The Tunisian Prime Minister, Almawledi Alkafi, was in Qertaj airport to greet his guest. According to information leaked to Arabstoday by the Tunisian Foreign ministry, the Saudi Foreign Minister will hold important meetings with a number of senior Tunisian officials during his visit. It is expected that the talks will focus on Tunisian-Saudi relations as well as regional and international developments. Saudi Arabia’s decision to provide asylum to the deposed Tunisian President Ben Ali will be on the agenda. Tunisian authorities issued a warrant for Ben Ali’s arrest and have asked Saudi Arabia to return the former-President so that he can be tried. The warrant was issued after Ben Ali was charged with financial and political corruption, as well as involvement in more serious crimes including murder and causing conflict between citizens. The courts are also deciding whether to charge Ben Ali for the death and injury of protesters during the revolution. Two ministers of the Interior and a number of former senior security officials will be tried by a military court in December on charges of murder during the Tunisian revolution.