Tunisia Opposition Leader Is Hospitalized After Acid Attack

Souhail Karam
·1-min read

(Bloomberg) -- A prominent Tunisian politician who tried unsuccessfully to stand against President Kais Saied in last month’s elections is undergoing treatment for serious burns sustained from an acid attack.

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Abdellatif Mekki, a former health minister and leader of the opposition group Action and Achievement, suffered burns in his eyes, neck and face after he was attacked at his home by a neighbor, his party said in a statement on Wednesday.

The motives behind the attack were not immediately clear. Action and Achievement urged authorities to open an investigation, saying previous complaints by Mekki against the attacker and his family were not followed through.

Hours after the incident late Tuesday, independent radio station Mosaique FM reported that a public prosecutor in the capital Tunis had authorized arrest warrants for two people in connection to a complaint filed by Mekki after the attack.

Mekki, a former member of the Islamist Ennahda party, was among several candidates who sought to challenge Saied in the Oct. 6 poll, only to be excluded by Tunisia’s election authority. Saied, who was seeking to extend his leadership of the North African country that began in 2019, went on to win with more than 90% of the votes cast.

The buildup to the election was marred by accusations Saied was trying to orchestrate a victory, and several opposition candidates and critics were arrested. Less than a third of the 9.7 million-strong electorate participated, the lowest rate for a presidential vote since Tunisia gained independence from France almost seven decades ago.

(Updates with a report of arrest warrants in fourth paragraph.)

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