Ministry Of Home Affairs Calls Death Threats To Kais Saied To Undermine Tunisian Security

Tunisian demonstration illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/scossargilbert)

JAKARTA - Tunisia's interior ministry said it had information about a serious threat to the president's life that emerged on Friday, June 24.

The ministry confirmed it had thwarted what it called a separate attack near the synagogue, adding to concerns over the escalating political crisis. The Ministry of Home Affairs said internal and external elements were involved in the plan targeting the president.

"The purpose of the threat is to undermine Tunisia's public security," said Ministry of Home Affairs spokeswoman Fadhila Khelifi at a press conference.

In what the ministry said was a separate incident, an assailant was arrested after wounding two police officers while targeting a security post outside a Tunis synagogue overnight.

President Kais Saied's opponents have accused the president of carrying out a coup because he seized most of power last summer to rule by decree and prepare a new constitution which he plans to put in a referendum next month.

Opposition to Saied's move has been widespread over the past few months as almost all major political parties as well as powerful trade unions have opposed his plans, holding street demonstrations against him.

But while critics of the president say his move has raised concerns over the rights and freedoms gained in the 2011 revolution that gave birth to democracy, there has been no widespread crackdown on the opposition.

Saied said the move was legal and necessary to save Tunisia from years of political paralysis and economic stagnation.

Tunisia has a small minority of Jews and hosts the annual pilgrimage to one of Africa's oldest synagogues, on the island of Djerba. An al Qaeda attack there in 2002 killed 21 visitors.