Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud arrived in Tunisia ahead of the summit of the League of Arab States (LAS), which will be held later this week, media have reported.
The Saudi King’s official visit at the invitation of Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi began on Thursday, Al Arabiya broadcaster reported. King Salman would head the Saudi delegation at the 30th edition of the Arab summit, which will begin on Sunday, the outlet added.
The broadcaster noted that Tunisia and Saudi Arabia expected to conclude a number of joint ventures and discuss bilateral political, economic and security issues as part of their bilateral high-level summit this week.
Last November, Tunisia has become a stage for protests against the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud in the wake of the killing of Saudi opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Turkey. However, in December, Riyadh pledged $830 million in aid to the North African country.
The Washington Post columnist Khashoggi went missing on 2 October 2018, after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Riyadh initially denied any knowledge of his whereabouts, but later admitted that the journalist was killed with a drug injection before his body was dismembered and taken out of the consulate.
The Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office stated that the assassination of Khashoggi had been pre-planned. Turkey had urged Saudi Arabia to extradite the perpetrators of the crime, as well as to provide information on the location of Khashoggi’s body.