Tunisian MP Attacks Head of Free Destourian Party

File Photo: Tunisian parliament (Reuters)
File Photo: Tunisian parliament (Reuters)
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Tunisian MP Attacks Head of Free Destourian Party

File Photo: Tunisian parliament (Reuters)
File Photo: Tunisian parliament (Reuters)

Member of the Tunisian Parliament Sahbi Samara repeatedly slapped opposition deputy and head of Free Destourian Party Abir Moussi before lawmakers rushed to her rescue.

It is unclear why Samara attacked Moussi, but a widely circulated video shows the deputy moving from his seat towards Moussi and started beating her.

Tensions grew in the parliament after members of the Free Destourian Party protested an agreement to launch a headquarters for the Qatar Fund for Development in Tunisia. They also disrupted the public sessions several times.

Meanwhile, the defense team of Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi, the two politicians assassinated in 2013 by suspected Islamist militants, accused the judiciary of failing to reveal the perpetrators of the two crimes.

The team confirmed that the weapons used to kill Belaid and Brahmi had not been handed over to the court, adding that an investigative judge was being pressured to disregard the case of the terrorist bombing of Habib Bourguiba Street in the Tunisian capital.

The defense threatened to contact international bodies, calling for the formation of a “civilian coalition to defend Tunisians’ right to justice" and an independent judiciary that does not cover up terrorism.

Member of the defense team lawyer Reda Radawi confirmed during a press conference that one of the judges threatened the President of the Judicial Council of Justice, claiming he has corruption documents that would implicate some members of the Council.

This development would negatively affect the investigation in the assassination case, he warned.

Radawi accused the Tunisian judiciary of concealing the report prepared by the General Inspection at the Ministry of Justice in an attempt to appoint one of the accused judges to “keep Tunisia under the control of terrorism.”

He warned that over 20,000 terrorists are in Tunisia under judicial cover, asserting "we will do everything necessary to save Tunisia” from terrorists.



Rubio Says US Hostage Envoy’s Direct Meeting with Hamas Was ‘One-Off’

Envoy for Hostages Adam Boehler speaks during a US hostage and wrongful detainee flag raising ceremony at the State Department in Washington, DC, on March 6, 2025. (AFP)
Envoy for Hostages Adam Boehler speaks during a US hostage and wrongful detainee flag raising ceremony at the State Department in Washington, DC, on March 6, 2025. (AFP)
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Rubio Says US Hostage Envoy’s Direct Meeting with Hamas Was ‘One-Off’

Envoy for Hostages Adam Boehler speaks during a US hostage and wrongful detainee flag raising ceremony at the State Department in Washington, DC, on March 6, 2025. (AFP)
Envoy for Hostages Adam Boehler speaks during a US hostage and wrongful detainee flag raising ceremony at the State Department in Washington, DC, on March 6, 2025. (AFP)

President Donald Trump's hostage envoy Adam Boehler's direct meetings with Palestinian militant group Hamas on the release of hostages in Gaza was a "one-off situation" and as of now "hasn't borne fruit," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday.

"That was a one-off situation in which our special envoy for hostages, whose job it is to get people released, had an opportunity to talk directly to someone who has control over these people and was given permission and encouraged to do so. He did so," Rubio told reporters en route to Saudi Arabia.

"As of now, it hasn't borne fruit. Doesn't mean he was wrong to try, but our primary vehicle for negotiations on this front will continue to be Mr. Witkoff and the work he's doing through Qatar," Rubio said, in reference to Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.

The discussions between Boehler and Hamas broke with a decades-old policy by Washington against negotiating with groups the US brands as terrorist organizations.

A senior Hamas official on Sunday told Reuters that the meetings between Hamas leaders and Boehler in recent days focused on the release of an American-Israeli dual national being held by the group in Gaza.

Boehler told CNN on Sunday that the talks were "very helpful" and, in an interview with Israel's N12 TV channel, he said that the Trump administration was focused on getting all the remaining 59 hostages out and ending the war.

Witkoff told reporters at the White House last week that gaining the release of Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old from New Jersey believed to be the last living American hostage held by Hamas in Gaza, was a "top priority for us".

Hamas carried out a cross-border raid into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering an Israeli offensive into the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.

Hamas fighters killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.