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Africa North

Tunisia bans Friday demos for fear of violence over cartoons

2012-09-21

[Al Ahram]

Tunisia said it was banning all demonstrations on Friday after receiving a tip-off about preparations for violence over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published by a French satirical weekly. "The interior ministry, using its powers under the state of emergency and in order to maintain public order, announces that it is outlawing any form of demonstration anywhere in Tunisian territory on Friday," a ministry statement said on Thursday.

"The ministry notes that it has received information suggesting the protests would be exploited for the purpose of committing acts of violence and causing unrest," it added.

Calls for Friday protests were circulating on social networks following the publication by French weekly Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday of cartoons featuring obscene images of the founder of Islam.

The interior ministry called on "all Tunisians and civil society to demonstrate understanding" and "urge (people) not to follow the call" to protest.

The French embassy has announced it will close on Friday and said all French schools in Tunisia would remain shut from Wednesday until Monday morning, as a precautionary measure.

Tunisia's ruling Islamist party responded to the printing of the controversial images by saying Moslems had "the right to protest" against them, as long as they do so peacefully.

"Ennahda backs the right of Moslems to protest and calls on the use of peaceful and civilised means," said Ennahda, which heads Tunisia's governing coalition, while also branding the cartoons "a new attack against the Prophet."

Publication of the cartoons comes against a background of violent protests across the Moslem world, which first erupted early last week over an anti-Islam film made in Caliphornia and posted on the Internet.

Posted by:Fred

#2 It would certainly benefit Iran to be causing widespread anger against the USA at the current time

The other possibility is the objective of weakening what central government there is in Libya, by showing them to be powerless and by removing/weakening whatever Western support they and pro-government militias might be receiving (not to mention weakening whatever western influence there is within Libya.)

Long term, it'd allow one or more militias (at least one of them Iranian-backed) to then become the 'strong horse' within the country.

Posted by: Pappy 2012-09-21 17:58

#1 One of the most noticeable - and interesting - aspects of the Muslim world today (Friday) is the LACK of response to the Muhammed cartoons published in France. There is almost nothing in the way of huge street demonstrations or emabssy burnings. Yet at the same time there are still active protests going on about the USA film in places like Islamabad and Nigeria.

The question is WHY???

Why would the French cartoons be any less offensive than the movie clip? There appears to be no logical reason.

This leads to the conclusion that the original protests against the film were part of a plan that may have been much deeper and wider than western Govt's suspected. The film was simply used as a catalyst to motivate people on the streets. Underneath the protests there may have been a carefully organized effort of subversion. If you look at the words of ambassador Chris Stevens - he suspected he was high on the hit list of aL Qaeda. Yet the State Dept has confirmed no evidence that the ambassador was on the AQ target list. Discrepancy? Possibly - that kind of intel is not strong. But could it be that both statements are correct? Stevens was not targeted by AQ - instead he was targeted by Iranian agents. It would certainly benefit Iran to be causing widespread anger against the USA at the current time.

Finally, it is worth noting that many intelligence agencies are capable of "false flag" operations. We should not discount the sophistication of the Iranians and al Quds. It is entirely possible that highly trained Shiite agents may be masquerading as Sunni Muslims, and operating within jihadist groups.

A thought for today from Raider at Rantburg.com

Posted by: Raider 2012-09-21 11:47

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