A GROUP of Tunisians living in Ireland demonstrated outside the Saudi Arabian embassy in Dublin earlier this week over Riyadh’s decision to offer sanctuary to deposed Tunisian president Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali.
Mr Ben Ali fled Tunisia with his family at the weekend. After the French government rejected a request for his plane to land in France, he was allowed to refuel in Sardinia before flying on to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia where he has remained since.
About 40 people, including Algerians, Moroccans and Libyans, joined the protest outside the Saudi embassy in Fitzwilliam Square on Monday.
They held placards with slogans including “Hand over the dictator”.
One Tunisian-born protester, who gave his name as Hisham, said they were demanding that the Saudi authorities hand Mr Ben Ali over to their Tunisian counterparts or the International Criminal Court.
Hisham, a naturalised Irish citizen originally from the coastal town of Hammamet in Tunisia, said two of his relatives had been killed in the recent clashes between protesters and Tunisian police. Several family members had been jailed under the Ben Ali regime.
“We are very angry because Ben Ali was denied access by European countries but welcomed in Saudi Arabia which is home to the holiest shrine in Islam,” Hisham, a chef who has lived in Ireland for 14 years, said.
“Saudi Arabia claims to apply Islam yet they give sanctuary to the worst criminal, a thief who has stolen the wealth of the Tunisian people while they are forced to eat rubbish. It is a disgrace.”