TUNIS: The prosecution service said yesterday it has opened an inquiry after a front-runner in Tunisia’s presidential poll in November, 87-year-old Beji Caid Essebsi, said members of his own party want him killed.
Prosecution service spokesman Allala Rhouma said that after statements Essebsi made during a meeting on Friday, an inquiry has begun “and the judge will summon Mr Essebsi so he can name those implicated”.
Rhouma cited articles of the Tunisian criminal code dealing with attempted murder and conspiracy.
Essebsi, a former premier seen as the main rival to the Islamist party Ennahda, on Friday accused “infiltrators” in his Nidaa Tounes party who oppose his candidacy of wanting to eliminate him.
Tunisia is gearing up for a parliamentary election on October 26 and a presidential poll less than a month later, on November 23.
For weeks, Nidaa Tounes has seen infighting over Essebsi’s nomination because of his advanced age and over the place accorded to former members of ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s regime. Yesterday, Nidaa Tounes excluded two party members, one of whom, Omar Shabou, said on television Sunday that he had seen Essebsi’s medical file and his health would not allow him to perform the duties of president.
AFP
