Suspicions of Corruption about Fate of $36.6 Bln Gained by Tunisia

A previous session of the Tunisian Parliament (Tunisian Parliament’s Website)
A previous session of the Tunisian Parliament (Tunisian Parliament’s Website)
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Suspicions of Corruption about Fate of $36.6 Bln Gained by Tunisia

A previous session of the Tunisian Parliament (Tunisian Parliament’s Website)
A previous session of the Tunisian Parliament (Tunisian Parliament’s Website)

The head of the financial committee in the Tunisian parliament, Usman Shoushan, revealed on Tuesday that the volume of loans and grants received by the Tunisian state since the beginning of the political transition in 2011 until 2021 amounted to 113.3 billion Tunisian dinars (around $36.6 billion).

Shoushan stated that the auditing process revealed that Tunisia obtained 325 loans during that period, until President Kais Saied declared exceptional measures in the country in 2021, dissolved the parliament, and dismissed the government.

“According to the audit report, it has been shown that a portion of these funds did not go through the Tunisian Central Bank,” said Shoushan.

He further mentioned in statements to “Radio Jawhara FM” that “there are suspicions of corruption surrounding the fate of these loans, including those related to stalled projects, among them a hospital project in the city of Kairouan.”

Shoushan also affirmed that there are loans that were obtained and repaid with interest without the completion of the projects they were allocated for.

President Saied, who dissolved most constitutional bodies dating back to before 2021, previously confirmed that he resorted to declaring exceptional measures in order to combat corruption and chaos within state institutions, emphasizing his intent to “cleanse” the administration.

In other news, Tunisian Minister of Economy and Planning Samir Said revealed that the public finances of the country are “limited and will remain limited for a few years until the financial directions are regained.”

The minister was quoted as saying that due to the limitation of public finances, there will be a special focus on the differential and competitive advantages of the regions.

The minister also emphasized the importance of private investment in boosting growth and improving the state’s financial situation, acknowledging that the path of investment and business “faces several difficulties, especially in terms of legislation and laws, and administrative procedures are complicated.”

Tunisia is facing a severe financial crisis, which worsened after the breakdown of an agreement with experts from the International Monetary Fund to secure a financing package worth $1.9 billion.



UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says Israeli forces raided four of its schools in east Jerusalem, ordering their closure.

Israel has severed all ties with the agency, known as UNRWA, and bars it from operating in its territory. It says the agency allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, allegations denied by UN officials.

UNRWA said police entered a training center by force on Tuesday, firing tear gas and sound grenades and ordering its evacuation. It said 350 students and 30 staff were present during the raid on the Qalandiya Training Center.

It said police and city officials ordered the closure of three other schools in east Jerusalem, two of which proceeded with the school day.

Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne said police did not enter the UN buildings and that Jerusalem municipal authorities carried out the closures. He said police were deployed to protect the city workers, using “riot dispersal” means in one case where a crowd threw stones at them outside a UN facility.

Roland Friedrich, UNRWA director for the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, said the raids were an “unacceptable violation of United Nations privileges and immunities,” and a “denial of the right to education for children and trainees.”