Tunisia Police Arrest Presidential Candidate as Pre-Election Tension Rises

Tunisia Police Arrest Presidential Candidate as Pre-Election Tension Rises
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Tunisia Police Arrest Presidential Candidate as Pre-Election Tension Rises

Tunisia Police Arrest Presidential Candidate as Pre-Election Tension Rises

Tunisian police arrested presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel on Monday, a member of his campaign told Reuters.
The electoral commission is preparing to announce on Monday the final list of accepted candidates for the presidential elections scheduled for Oct. 6.
Mahdi Abdel Jawad said police had arrested Zammel at his home at about 3:00 a.m. on suspicion of falsifying popular endorsements.
Last week, the Administrative Court, the highest judicial body that adjudicates electoral disputes, reinstated three prominent candidates, Mondher Znaidi, AbdelLatif Mekki and Imed Daimi, to the election race after the electoral commission had rejected their candidacy filing.
They joined accepted candidates Ayachi Zammel, Zouhair Maghzaoui and Kais Saied, the current president.
However, electoral commission head Farouk Bouasker said the commission would study the Administrative Court’s decision and other judicial decisions against candidates before issuing the final list.



France to Host Syria Meeting with Arab, Turkish, Western Partners in January

This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)
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France to Host Syria Meeting with Arab, Turkish, Western Partners in January

This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)

France will host a meeting on Syria with Arab, Turkish, western partners in January, said France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Wednesday.

The meeting will be a follow-up to the one held in Jordan last week.

Speaking in parliament, Barrot added that reconstruction aid and the lifting of sanctions in Syria would depend on clear political and security commitments by the new authorities.

The new Syrian transition authorities will not be judged on words, but on actions over time, he stressed.

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkiye's Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed that the transition in Syria should be respectful of the rights of all communities in the country, the French presidency said after the leaders spoke by phone on Wednesday.

"They expressed their wish that a peaceful and representative political transition, in accordance with the principles of resolution 2254, respectful of the fundamental rights of all communities in Syria, be conducted as soon as possible," an Elysee statement said, referring to a United Nations Security Council resolution.  

Barrot added that fighting in northeastern Syrian cities of Manbij and Kobane must stop immediately.

France is working to find deal between Turks and Kurds in Syria’s northeast that meets interests of both sides, he revealed.

Macron made clear in his call with Erdogan that Kurdish Syrians needed to be fully-integrated in political transition process, continued the FM.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces must be part of the political transition process, he urged.