rached ghannouchi is accused of plotting against state security. this comes as president kais saied intensifies his crackdown on opponents after granting himself greater powers two years ago. so what is next for the country where the arab spring began? this is "inside story." ♪ hello and welcome to the program. i am folly bah thibault. a judge in tunisia has ruled the leader of the opposition ennahdha party must stay in prison before facing trial on charges against state security. rached ghannouchi is the latest among journalists, trade union leaders and of -- and other leaders to be held. his offices have also been held down. he is the highest opposition opponent of president kais saied to be arrested so far. we ennahdha party 81-year-old head of the ennahdha party spoke before he was detained and said tunisia is not a dictatorship. >> the battle in our country is between democracy and the dictatorship that wants to confiscate all the gains of our blessed revolution. the legal cases against us are empty and meaningless, according to legal experts.

this is ghannouchi speaking just two days before he was detained. >> tunisia, without another party and without political islam, without the left or any of the components, is a civil war project. it is a crime. therefore, those who welcome this coup cannot be democrats. amy: in other news from tunisia, clashes broke out between mourning protesters and police at the funeral of professional soccer player nizar issaoui, who died last week after setting himself on fire in what has been described as a protest against the police state. prior to his death, issaoui decried the police for accusing him of terrorism after a dispute with a fruit vendor over the price of bananas. in syria, saudi arabia's foreign minister met with syrian president bashar al-assad in damascus in the first high-level saudi visit to syria since the start of the civil war in 2011. this comes as syria's arab neighbors are discussing its possible return to the 22-member arab league and other ways of bringing the war-torn nation out of isolation. meanwhile, qatar and the united arab emirates are moving forward on restoring