<p>The office of Tunisian President Kais Saied said Thursday that he had been the victim of an “attempted poisoning” via a letter addressed to him and opened by an aide who fell ill.</p>.<p>The announcement confirmed reports circulating for more than a day that someone had tried to poison the president.</p>.<p>The statement said a letter received Monday from an “unknown sender” addressed to Saied went to the desk of his top aide, Nadia Akacha.</p>.<p>“On opening it, she found no written document, but her health quickly deteriorated,” the statement said. “She suddenly felt weak, nearly lost her vision and got a migraine headache.” Another official in the room felt a bit ill, it added.</p>.<p>The aide was placed in Tunisia's military hospital and the letter sent for analysis by a special service of the Interior Ministry, the statement said.</p>.<p>The spokesman for the Tunis prosecutor's office, Mohsen Dali, said a special brigade was investigating the case.</p>.<p>The statement from the president's office said a decision had been made not to publish the information the day of the incident “to avoid spreading panic” among the population. It said that Saied I “was not effected” by the poison letter and was in good health.</p>.<p>Saied, a former law professor and political outsider, was elected to the presidency in 2019. </p>
<p>The office of Tunisian President Kais Saied said Thursday that he had been the victim of an “attempted poisoning” via a letter addressed to him and opened by an aide who fell ill.</p>.<p>The announcement confirmed reports circulating for more than a day that someone had tried to poison the president.</p>.<p>The statement said a letter received Monday from an “unknown sender” addressed to Saied went to the desk of his top aide, Nadia Akacha.</p>.<p>“On opening it, she found no written document, but her health quickly deteriorated,” the statement said. “She suddenly felt weak, nearly lost her vision and got a migraine headache.” Another official in the room felt a bit ill, it added.</p>.<p>The aide was placed in Tunisia's military hospital and the letter sent for analysis by a special service of the Interior Ministry, the statement said.</p>.<p>The spokesman for the Tunis prosecutor's office, Mohsen Dali, said a special brigade was investigating the case.</p>.<p>The statement from the president's office said a decision had been made not to publish the information the day of the incident “to avoid spreading panic” among the population. It said that Saied I “was not effected” by the poison letter and was in good health.</p>.<p>Saied, a former law professor and political outsider, was elected to the presidency in 2019. </p>