Tunisians protest against ‘Murderer’ Saudi crown Prince

Hundreds of people protested in the Centre of the Tunisian Capital Tunis on Tuesday against a planned visit by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the country.

The crown prince is expected to arrive on Tuesday, as part of a tour of several Arab countries on his first trip abroad since the killing of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Khashoggi, a sharp critic of Mohammed, was killed inside a Saudi consulate in Turkey on Oct. 2, triggering global condemnations.

Saudi officials have repeatedly denied reports that the prince is linked to the murder.

The protesters gathered at Habib Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis and chanted slogans calling for the overthrow of the crown prince.

They raised pictures of children killed in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia and other Sunni allies, including the United Arab Emirates, have been leading a military campaign against the Shiite Houthi rebels since March 2015.

“Bin Salman, you are a murderer,’’ some chanted while carrying Yemeni flags.

On Monday, activists staged a protest on the same avenue against the visit.

No fewer than 12 Tunisian civic and rights groups, among them a journalists’ union, voiced their opposition at a news conference.

The journalists’ union has hung a banner on its building showing an image of the crown prince holding a bone saw and reading “no to the desecration of Tunisia.’’

Prince Mohammed’s current tour comes ahead of his participation in the G20 summit in Argentina, starting on Friday.

During his tour, he visited the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

He arrived in Egypt on Monday, where he was expected to hold talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi on Tuesday before leaving for Tunisia.