Tunisia coup: President dismisses more officials including US envoy

Tunisian President Kais Saied sacked the country's newly appointed ambassador to the US, Nejmeddine Lakhal, amid an ongoing push to consolidate power following last week's power grab.

Saied's office announced Lakhal's dismissal on Tuesday, hours after firing the governor of the coastal governorate of Sfax, Anis Oueslati.

"President Kais Saied issues a presidential decree relieving Nejmeddine Lakhal from his duties as the Ambassador of Tunisia to Washington," the Tunisian Presidency said in a post on Twitter. 

It did not explain why Lakhal was let go. Neither did it name his replacement. 

Lakhal, a veteran diplomat, was appointed ambassador to the US in May after serving as envoy to India.

Last week, Saied suspended parliament activities, sacked the prime minister and granted himself prosecutorial powers, arguing that the extraordinary measures were necessary to fight corruption.

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The president's political opponents have been sounding the alarm over the moves, warning that Saied is aiming to impose a one-man dictatorial rule on the country - 10 years after a popular uprising toppled longtime autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Earlier on Tuesday, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet expressed concern about the situation in the North African country after a phone call with Tunisian Foreign Minister Othman Jerandi.

"It's a worrying situation. We are following really closely and we know the challenges the country is facing," Marta Hurtado, a spokeswoman for Bachelet's office, told reporters according to the AFP news agency.

"What we hope is that all the achievements towards democratic reform that they have been doing over the last 10 years can be maintained and preserved, and that there's no regression in any way."

Tunisia's transition to democracy is viewed as the sole success story of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, many of which were violently put down or turned into civil wars.

Saied insists that his power grab is not meant to derail Tunisia from its democratic path. But his moves were followed by a crackdown on critics, including the raid of Al Jazeera's offices in Tunis and the issuing of arrest warrants against several lawmakers and legal advocates.

Authorities have also opened probes against the country's two largest parties, Ennahda and Heart of Tunisia, based on allegations of receiving foreign funds during the 2019 election campaign.

The US administration has expressed concern about the turn of events in Tunisia after Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Saied by phone last week.

"Our strong hope and expectation is that Tunisia will return to that democratic path, act consistent with the constitution, unfreeze the parliament, have a government in place to do the work of the people, to be responsive to their needs," Blinken told Al Jazeera in a TV interview last Thursday.