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| Africa North |
| Cloud of terror blankets Tunisia |
| 2014-08-11 |
| [MAGHAREBIA] Tunisian journalist Nouredine Mbarki, a political analyst and observer of myrmidon organizations, is making the rounds of the international press to discuss security in his country. Magharebia met with him in Tunis to find out why he's so worried. Magharebia: In recent appearances on Arab satellite TV channels, you have been sounding the alarm about the terror threat to Tunisia. Is the situation worse than we think? Nouredine Mbarki: Threats facing Tunisia have gone beyond the phase of speculation and analysis, or as some political actors describe it- a "scarecrow"... First, there is a Tunisian group that is embracing jihad and has already carried out operations. Second is the situation in Libya [and] groups in influential positions, where they can provide shelter to Tunisian jihadist leaders. And third is the return of Tunisian jihadists from Syria and Iraq. Security and intelligence reports confirm that these groups are preparing for terrorist acts. The terrorist threat in Tunisia has become a reality…. Magharebia: The president recently called for reconciliation with forces of Evil who lay down arms and abandon battlefields. Do you support the move? Mbarki: The final form of that law is still unclear: will it be a new law, or an article in the new terrorism law? However, some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... steps have been certainly taken in this regard, and it appears we have benefited from the experiences of other countries in dealing with terrorist groups. This is a response to calls by many political actors and civil society activists about the need not to place all those who travelled to Syria in the same basket, given that some "have been deceived". Magharebia: Will reintegrating repentant forces of Evil solve the problem? Mbarki: Terrorism in Tunisia has reached an advanced stage, and therefore, needs to be dealt with using all necessary mechanisms that can prevent it from expanding. Such mechanisms include the repentance law, especially as the countries that resorted to the move did so following very bloody and long years of conflict with terrorism… A repentance law in Tunisia may realise its political, social and security goals, such as isolating the hard core of those groups from those who joined such groups for material or even psychological reasons, and want to withdraw but don't know how. The repentance laws and reconciliation initiatives are only small rings in a long chain of measures to combat terrorism, and can't replace the security, social, psychological, and religious approaches in combating this phenomenon. In the countries that underwent such an experience, terrorism was not eliminated. Magharebia: What else must be done? Mbarki: Such laws and reconciliation initiatives need to have an infrastructure capable of embracing those who decide to repent and rehabilitate them socially, psychologically, and religiously, and monitor them after they graduate from these 'rehabilitation programmes'. Progress needs to be made in combating all incubators of terrorism; the mosques that are under Lion of Islams' control, discourse of incitement and takfir, and associations that have unknown sources of financing. Magharebia: What will happen when Tunisians return from fighting in Iraq and Syria? Mbarki: Through previous experiences, especially the "return of Arab Afghans" in the mid-1990s after the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan, and also after the fall of the "Taliban emirate" in 2001, we notice that [handling] the return to home countries is governed by two factors: the presence of a fatwa directing those fighters to go to other battlefields, and the danger they pose to security... For Tunisians in Iraq and Syria, we notice that the return is still restricted to those who were recruited to fight, not the leaders. We can understand this to mean that Tunisia has not yet turned into a main battlefield… for jihadists from other nationalities "to join the Tunisian front". Magharebia: What drives someone to leave home to fight in Syria or Iraq? Mbarki: We can't understand affiliation to these groups and full involvement in them based on just one factor; there is a set of interconnected factors that lead to full and organic involvement. These include poverty. This is understood from the spread of these groups in popular neighbourhoods and disadvantaged internal areas, such as Sidi Bouzid, Kasserine, Jendouba, etc. Cultural and religious factors can't be ignored; such groups expand and spread when there is a vacuum. Magharebia: How did we get to this point? Mbarki: Throughout the last decade, Tunisia has lived in real cultural vacuum because of the policy of the former regime, which subjected all things to its political purposes. Youth institutions are almost non-functional and cultural clubs are almost absent. The official religious discourse was also distorted and subjected to political authority; something that made it unable to stop the proponents of those groups whose discourse could reach youths through satellite channels and the internet. After January 14th, 2011, those groups, supported by significant financial resources and political coverage from the troika parties that won the election and formed the government, found ample space to move. Magharebia: How do you distinguish between internal and external dangers to Tunisia? Mbarki: Terrorism is no longer an internal threat. We can't just think that the source of threats facing Tunisia is from within; jihadist groups don't believe in nationalism or national borders, and therefore, internal and external threats are the same. Magharebia: Do you think that the law will deter or constrain terrorists? Mbarki: The terrorism law is a mechanism in the hands of executive authority; it may help achieve security and judicial progress by besieging and restricting terrorists. However, some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... it would be wrong to think it will be enough to deter these groups… Magharebia: Now that we're about to hold legislative and presidential election in Tunisia, how do you see the future of political Islam in Tunisia? Mbarki: Political Islam, through the Ennahda movement, is still trying to maintain its place in the general scene in the country by embracing a discourse based on a civil state, law and institutions, the rejection of terrorism, and the call for moderation. Such a discourse resonates well both inside and outside Tunisia. However, some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go... we must also say that Ennahda's experiment in government has shown that it was very tolerant with jihadists and tried to defend them against charges of terrorism at a certain stage. In addition, it has failed in running the economic and social files; something that has affected its standing and they know it. It will have a presence in the general scene after the next election, but it won't be the same as it was before 2011. |
| Posted by:Fred |