Ansar Al Sharia Salafists move banned rally to Tunis suburb
Tunisia has been rocked by attacks blamed on militant Islamists since the 2011 revolution
TUNIS: Tunisian Salafist movement Ansar Al Sharia called on its supporters to gather in a Tunis suburb on Sunday, after the government banned it from holding its annual congress in the central city of Kairouan.
“We call on our brothers to gather in large numbers in the Ettadhamen district of the capital,” the hardline Islamist group said on its official Facebook page.
Ansar Al Sharia official Sami Essid confirmed that the movement’s congress would now be held in the Tunis suburb.
“Our congress is being held in Ettadhamen,” he told AFP. Essid declined to state clearly that the gathering originally planned in Kairouan had been cancelled and the group’s Facebook page did not specify either
A resident of Ettadhamen said a large number of Ansar Al Sharia supporters were visible in the poor neighbourhood of western Tunis, which is a renowned Salafist stronghold. Some of them were armed with stakes and knives and waving the black flag of their movement. In the market place they chanted “we are going to Ettadhamen,” the witness said.
The government decided to ban the annual meeting last week, saying it threatened public order. The group advised its supporters earlier on Sunday to stay away from Kairouan, after the security forces deployed there in strength.
But Ansar Al Sharia, which does not recognise the authority of the state, has made known its determination to hold its meeting, despite the official ban, and has warned that it will hold the government responsible for any violence.
Tunisia has been rocked by attacks blamed on militant Islamists since the uprising that toppled president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and Ansar Al Sharia is considered the most radical of the extremist groups that emerged after the 2011 revolution.
The government has hardened its position towards Islamist extremists in recent months, after the moderate Islamist party Ennahda was strongly criticised for being too lenient and failing to prevent a wave of violence around the country.
