Mohammed bin Salman honoured by Tunisian president on Tunis visit
Tunisian President Beij Caid Essebsi threw a state dinner on Tuesday for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after representatives from the two countries held working meetings to discuss areas of co-operation.
On the fourth leg of Prince Mohammed’s regional tour before the G20 summit in Argentina tomorrow, the delegation of princes, ministers and officials met their Tunisian counterparts to discuss developing relations since the Tunisian president’s visit to Riyadh in December 2015.
“[They discussed] ways to strengthen co-operation in a number of … areas, such as the economy and finance, investment promotion, security and military co-operation to counter the risks of extremism and terrorism and exchange experiences and expertise in scientific and cultural fields,” according to an official statement.
The two countries also discussed Tunisia’s preparations to host the 30th Arab League Summit in March next year. The talks came a day before Prince Mohammed landed in Buenos Aires for the G20 summit where he was expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and world leaders days before a meeting of Opec and allied oil producers in Vienna. Riyadh is expected to make a bid for Russia’s co-operation on curbing crude output next year after oil plunged back into a bear market.
The Saudi delegation to Tunisia included Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir, Prince Turki bin Mohammed, adviser to the Royal Court, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud, minister of interior, and the head of general intelligence, Khalid Al Humaidan.
The Tunisian president awarded Prince Salman the Order of the Republic medal.
Political and civil society groups criticised the Crown Prince’s visit and about 200 people gathered in Tunis to protest against his arrival.