Tunisia’s anti-terrorist judiciary arrested the former prime minister and leader of the Islamist party Ennahdha Ali Laarayedh on Monday. After hours of interrogation, this Tuesday in a statement indicated the political strength of the opposition.
According to the document, Ali Laarayedh was detained for alleged involvement in a network that sent young jihadists to conflict zones after the fall in 2011 of the dictatorial regime of Zin El Abidin Ben Ali.
In the statement, Ennahdha leader and former speaker of the now-dissolved parliament, Rached Ghannouchi, denied the allegations, calling them a “desperate” attack by Tunisian President Kais Said – who took full power in July 2021 – to “put the catastrophic to hide failure”. of the farce of parliamentary elections”.
In recent months, Tunisian security forces have also arrested, in this case, the former leader of Ennahdha Habib Al Louz, the businessman and owner of the airline Syphax Airlines, Mohamed Frikha, and the former director general of Borders Lotfi Seghaïer.
“I assure all Tunisians who attack the leaders [partidários] and other adversaries will not improve life or solve the problems of food shortages and rising prices. It is an attempt to distract and cover up the regime’s various shortcomings,” said Ghannouchi, who demanded Laarayedh’s “immediate release”.
According to data released Monday by the Independent Superior Instance for Elections (ISIE), only 11.2% of more than nine million registered voters took part in Saturday’s early parliamentary elections, boycotted by the opposition and civil society.
The opposition, including the coalition around the National Salvation Front (FSN), of which Ennahdha is a part, stated that they did not recognize the legitimacy of the head of state and demanded his resignation and called for an early presidential election.
After the fall of the dictatorship, thousands of Tunisians joined jihadist groups, including the Islamic State (IS) group, in Iraq, Syria and neighboring Libya.
The North African country has become the world’s first “exporter” of jihadists, numbering about 5,000, according to a United Nations study, and in 2015 suffered several attacks on its territory, killing 72 people , of which 60 are foreign tourists. .
Source: DN
