Saudi Arabia announced officially early Saturday morning it has accepted political refugee status request by fleeing Tunisia president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his family, IRNA reported.
The Saudi news agency SEPA, quoting a communiqué of the Saudi Royal Palace, announced, 'Ben Ali arrived in Saudi Kingdom following his fleeing from Tunisia', according to the IRNA monitoring service.
In communiqué of the Saudi Royal Palace, in addition to expressing concern over the extraordinary conditions with which the brother nation of Tunisia are entangled and hoping for the fast restoration of secure and stable conditions in that country, the Saudi government has welcomed Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his family members in that kingdom.
According to the dispatches, quoting a Saudi official, the plane carrying Ben-Ali landed in Jeddah port city, but the names of the people accompanying him were not mentioned.
Late Friday night the Tunisian Prime Minister Mahamed Ghannouchi had announced in a brief radio address that Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali had stepped down from power and left the country.
He had also announced that the country's affairs were in the hands of an interim government, based on bin-Ali's request.
Ghannouchi also asked the entire Tunisians to remain calm and united for the sake of prosperity and advancement of the country, and to cooperate with each other in that respect.
In a dramatic climax to weeks of violent protests against his rule, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia's president for more than 23 years, fled to Saudi Arabia on Friday and Prime Minister Mahamed Ghannouchi took over as caretaker president.
But it remains to be seen whether the protesters will accept Ghannouchi's interim leadership, or take to the streets again.