TUNIS — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met a mixed reception during his first state visit to Tunisia on Nov. 27, finding warm welcomes from government officials but fueling crowds of angry protesters in downtown Tunis.
The crown prince’s trip, part of a regional tour that also brought him to Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt, was aimed at rehabilitating his image after a global outcry over the murder of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi and reasserting the kingdom’s position as a powerful actor on the world stage.
In Tunisia, the crown prince saw the opportunity to further shore up support in the Arab world and push back against the influence of regional foes Qatar and Turkey, which have closer ties with Tunisia’s moderate Islamist Ennahda party.
The stop was also deeply symbolic for Prince Mohammed, who sought to show that Tunisia, “the last surviving Arab Spring country, whose democratic transition his country tried so hard to destabilize between 2011 and 2013, is welcoming him at a time he is seen a pariah by many states,” Tunis-based political analyst Youssef Cherif told Al-Monitor.
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