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Tunisia President: Al-Qaeda Threatens New Arab Democracies

Moncef Marzouki blames the Syrian civil war for a resurgence of Islamist terrorism and warns that Egypt’s banning of the Muslim Brotherhood is “the most dangerous thing for you and probably for us.”
Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki prepares to speak at an event to discuss leveraging AIDS response during the 67th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, September 26, 2012. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS HEALTH) - RTR38FZY

Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki said Wednesday [Sept. 25] that al-Qaeda is attempting a comeback in the Middle East, feeding off anger over the rising death toll in Syria and the Egyptian coup against the Muslim Brotherhood.

About 500 Tunisian young people have gone to Syria to fight against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, Marzouki said, and he fears they will return as experienced jihadists to target Tunisia’s own transitional government.

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