By Reuters Staff

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       FILE PHOTO: Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi appears in a news conference in Tunis, Tunisia, on June 3, 2021. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi/File Photo

       TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia’s anti-corruption authority aired photographs dated on Thursday of ex-prime minister Hichem Mechichi declaring his properties at the agency’s headquarters, his first public appearance since his July 25 dismissal by President Kais Saied.

       Saied invoked a national emergency in taking executive control of the government and freezing parliament in a move that was welcomed by protesters disgruntled over years of disorder and stagnation but branded a coup by his political opponents.

       The anti-corruption authority’s photos of Mechichi, posted on its website, appeared to dispel unconfirmed reports that he was under house arrest.

       Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Mark Heinrich

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