Tunisia Considers Crackdown On Radical Preachers
It remains to be seen whether the Tunisian government’s crackdown on terrorists, including targeting "radical" preachers, will reduce violence in the country, writes Mischa Benoit-Lavelle from Tunisia.
TABARKA, Tunisia — With 16 soldiers and national guard agents injured while hunting for an extremist group in Tunisia's mountainous border area, the country is witnessing its most dangerous confrontation with Islamist violence to date.
Underscoring the seriousness of the threat, the interior minister confirmed on May 8 that the group being pursued was affiliated with the Oqba Ibnou Nafaa Militia, part of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and that among its two dozen or so fighters were some who had returned from the Islamist insurgency in Mali.
The ruling Islamist Ennahdha party, however, seemed to be unfazed by the turn of events.
In a press conference on May 9, Tunisian leader Rached Ghannouchi stuck to the party line, saying that criminal acts would be treated individually, and that human rights would not allow for any action to be taken against a group or movement, such as the loosely-defined “Salafist” movement, followers of a conservative interpretation of Islam who believe sharia should be applied throughout the Muslim world.
