Tunisian opposition leader victim of acid attack

Abdellatif Mekki, a former health minister and leader of the opposition group Action and Achievement, was hospitalized after suffering burns due to an acid attack.

Mekki suffered burns in his eyes and neck after he was attacked by a neighbor in his home, his party said.

Mekki’s complaints following threats by his neighbor were not taken seriously by authorities, the party said.

Mekki, a former member of the Islamist Ennahda party, was among several candidates who sought to challenge President Kais Saied in the Oct. 6 poll, only to be excluded by Tunisia’s election authority. Saied, who was seeking to extend his leadership of the North African country that began in 2019, went on to win with more than 90% of the votes cast.