Tunisia investigates ‘poisoned’ letter sent to president

An investigation has been opened into a suspect letter addressed to Tunisia's President Kais Saied, his office said Wednesday, as media and Algeria's presidency spoke of an attempted poisoning.

Tunisia's presidency said that the letter, opened by Saied's chief of staff, contained a suspect material.

An investigation was underway to determine the content of the material and its sender, it added.

Nobody was harmed and the letter did not find its way to the president, it said.

Tunisian media suggested that the letter may have contained ricin, a poison.

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Algeria's President Abddelmadjid Tebboune, hospitalised in Germany after he suffered coronavirus complications, had been in touch with his Tunisian counterpart "after hearing the news of his attempted poisoning", the Algerian presidency said.

Tensions are high in Tunisia, with wrangling over a new cabinet and recent unrest amid a coronavirus-driven economic crisis that has seen hundreds of mainly young people arrested.

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