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Tunisia’s Ennahda Party Says Its Senior Official Bhairi Released from House Arrest

FILE: People stand outside a closed court during a nationwide strike in Tunis, Tunisia (Reuters)
FILE: People stand outside a closed court during a nationwide strike in Tunis, Tunisia (Reuters)
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Tunisia’s Ennahda Party Says Its Senior Official Bhairi Released from House Arrest

FILE: People stand outside a closed court during a nationwide strike in Tunis, Tunisia (Reuters)
FILE: People stand outside a closed court during a nationwide strike in Tunis, Tunisia (Reuters)

Tunisia's moderate Islamist Ennahda party said on Facebook that its senior official, Noureddine Bhairi, was freed from house arrest early on Tuesday.

The Tunisian Interior Ministry had lifted the house arrest order against Bhairi, the state news agency (TAP) reported late on Monday.

Bhairi was placed under house arrest due to illegal submission of passports and nationality documents and a serious suspicion of terrorism, according to the interior minister, according to Reuters.

Bhairi, who was detained in December, was the party’s first senior official to be detained since President Kais Saied dismissed Parliament and seized governing powers in July in a move that Ennahda and some other parties have called a coup.

Since Saied's July intervention, several senior politicians and business leaders have been detained or subjected to legal prosecution, often involving cases of corruption or defamation.

Rights groups have criticized some of those arrests and the use of military courts to hear such cases.

However, there has been no widespread campaign of arrests of critics of Saied or other dissidents and the state news agency has continued to report news that is unfavorable to the government.

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Sisi: Electricity Interconnection Projects with Saudi Arabia a Model for Regional Cooperation

Sisi met with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mahmoud Esmat, and Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawy. (Egyptian Presidency)
Sisi met with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mahmoud Esmat, and Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawy. (Egyptian Presidency)
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Sisi: Electricity Interconnection Projects with Saudi Arabia a Model for Regional Cooperation

Sisi met with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mahmoud Esmat, and Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawy. (Egyptian Presidency)
Sisi met with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mahmoud Esmat, and Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawy. (Egyptian Presidency)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi affirmed that the electrical interconnection project with Saudi Arabia represents a model of regional energy cooperation and a benchmark for future similar ventures in electrical connectivity, directing close monitoring of all project details.
Sisi made these remarks during a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mahmoud Esmat, and Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawy.
According to a statement by the Egyptian presidency on Sunday, the discussion reviewed the status of electrical interconnection projects between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, emphasizing their importance in enhancing grid efficiency and stability while optimizing the use of generation capacity during peak demand periods.
Cairo and Riyadh signed an agreement in 2012 to establish the electrical interconnection project at a cost of $1.8 billion, with Egypt contributing $600 million (1 USD = 49.65 EGP in local banks). In a government meeting in mid-October, Madbouly announced that the interconnection line is expected to become operational in May or June of next year, with an initial capacity of 1,500 megawatts.
This initiative is the first of its kind to enable high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power exchange in the Middle East and North Africa region. It connects Badr City in Egypt to Medina via Tabuk in Saudi Arabia. Late last month, Madbouly highlighted that the project, set to produce 3,000 megawatts in two phases, is a landmark achievement for Egypt’s energy sector.
Presidential spokesperson Mohamed al-Shenawy stated that the meeting also highlighted the progress on the Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant. The project is seen as vital to Egypt’s comprehensive development strategy, which aims to diversify energy sources through renewable and alternative means, improving service delivery to citizens.
Located in northern Egypt, the Dabaa plant will consist of four nuclear reactors with a combined capacity of 4,800 megawatts (1,200 megawatts per reactor). The first reactor is expected to be operational by 2028, with the others coming online sequentially. The Egyptian government has pledged to fulfill its commitments to ensure the project meets its scheduled timeline.
The president also directed the government to intensify efforts to attract investments in the energy sector, develop the management of the national gas grid, and ensure stable energy supplies for both electricity and industrial sectors. Furthermore, he urged rapid progress on renewable energy projects to diversify energy sources, expand grid capacity, and modernize the network using advanced technologies to enhance efficiency and reduce losses.