Tunisia: overnight riots-arrests and curfew declared.
Tunisia has declared an overnight curfew in 8 administrative regions including the capital Tunis following serious rioting. Interior Minister Ali Larayedh said 153 people had been arrested and that the riots were started by extremist Salafists and others.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Tunisia-overnig...
He said that he expected rioting by groups of Salafi Islamists and others to continue in the coming days and said some of the violence may have been inspired by al Qaeda.
"We have entered a phase in which we may see similar incidents and expect it to continue in the coming days and for the number of arrests to increase," he told parliament.
"The protests are a reaction to the exhibition but maybe also to (Ayman) al-Zawahri's recent comments." he said.
Hundreds of conservative Salafi Islamists, angered by an art exhibition they believe humiliates Muslims, clashed with police in Tunis early on Tuesday, and destroyed the art works in the exhibition.
The protesters blocked streets and set tires alight in the Ettadamen and Sidi Hussein districts of the capital, hurling petrol bombs at security forces who tried to disperse them with tear gas and by firing bullets into the air, witnesses said the rioters had attacked a court house in Sidi Hussein and tried to burn a police building in the
Ettadamen district,according to AFP.
The clashes come a day after a group of Salafis, who follow a puritanical interpretation of Islam, forced their way into an art exhibition in the upscale La Marsa suburb and defaced works they deemed offensive.
The attack on the art works is the latest of many violent attack by Salafists which have increased in frequency and now moved to the capital as well as in deprived regions.
The day before Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri called on the Tunisian people to rise up against the country's Islamist ruling party for accepting a constitution not based on Islamic Shariah law, according to a recording released Sunday.
In an audio recording posted on militant forums, al-Zawahri said the leaders of the Ennahda party were violating Islam's teachings by accepting a constitution that does not consider Shariah the sole source for legislation.
Al-Zawahri said Ennahda favors "an Islam accepted by the U.S. State Department, the EU and the sheikdoms of the Gulf, an Islam that accepts gambling clubs and nude beaches."
"It is strange to see a leadership party that claims to be associated with moderate Islam and at the same time it says it does not call for ruling by Islam," he said.
He said that the moderate Islam meant that an "Islam which accepts Muslims to fight alongside the American army in Afghanistan."
"Rise up to support your Shariah and incite the people for a popular uprising instigating them to defend the Shariah and tell them what about what (plot) is being hatched against Islam," he said.
The Tunisian Interior Minister blamed the al-Zawahiri audio message for some of the riots which have brought the conflict between an extreme islamic faction and the secular elements of society to a head. There have been frequent calls for the government to act against the Salafists who have become increasingly violent.
The Minister said that he expected the riots to continue for several more days.The Salafist actions coincided with discontent with the government over large scale unemployment and neglected industrial towns in the East. It is a clear threat to the state and and seems to be attempt to overthrow the Ennhada led government.
An article yesterday in the New York Times about continuing disturbances on Manouba University campus which
mirrors the divisions in Tunisian society dscribes trhe confrontation between secular and islamic elements in society. The dean,Habib Kazdaghli refuses to allow female students to attend classes wearing the veil.
The article comments that " Tunisia is still struggling to come to terms with what role Islam will play in public life"
It says that this could be the making or breaking of the Tunisian state and other countries in the region.
"We have entered a phase in which we may see similar incidents and expect it to continue in the coming days and for the number of arrests to increase," he told parliament.
"The protests are a reaction to the exhibition but maybe also to (Ayman) al-Zawahri's recent comments." he said.
Hundreds of conservative Salafi Islamists, angered by an art exhibition they believe humiliates Muslims, clashed with police in Tunis early on Tuesday, and destroyed the art works in the exhibition.
The protesters blocked streets and set tires alight in the Ettadamen and Sidi Hussein districts of the capital, hurling petrol bombs at security forces who tried to disperse them with tear gas and by firing bullets into the air, witnesses said the rioters had attacked a court house in Sidi Hussein and tried to burn a police building in the
Ettadamen district,according to AFP.
The clashes come a day after a group of Salafis, who follow a puritanical interpretation of Islam, forced their way into an art exhibition in the upscale La Marsa suburb and defaced works they deemed offensive.
The attack on the art works is the latest of many violent attack by Salafists which have increased in frequency and now moved to the capital as well as in deprived regions.
The day before Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri called on the Tunisian people to rise up against the country's Islamist ruling party for accepting a constitution not based on Islamic Shariah law, according to a recording released Sunday.
In an audio recording posted on militant forums, al-Zawahri said the leaders of the Ennahda party were violating Islam's teachings by accepting a constitution that does not consider Shariah the sole source for legislation.
Al-Zawahri said Ennahda favors "an Islam accepted by the U.S. State Department, the EU and the sheikdoms of the Gulf, an Islam that accepts gambling clubs and nude beaches."
"It is strange to see a leadership party that claims to be associated with moderate Islam and at the same time it says it does not call for ruling by Islam," he said.
He said that the moderate Islam meant that an "Islam which accepts Muslims to fight alongside the American army in Afghanistan."
"Rise up to support your Shariah and incite the people for a popular uprising instigating them to defend the Shariah and tell them what about what (plot) is being hatched against Islam," he said.
The Tunisian Interior Minister blamed the al-Zawahiri audio message for some of the riots which have brought the conflict between an extreme islamic faction and the secular elements of society to a head. There have been frequent calls for the government to act against the Salafists who have become increasingly violent.
The Minister said that he expected the riots to continue for several more days.The Salafist actions coincided with discontent with the government over large scale unemployment and neglected industrial towns in the East. It is a clear threat to the state and and seems to be attempt to overthrow the Ennhada led government.
An article yesterday in the New York Times about continuing disturbances on Manouba University campus which
mirrors the divisions in Tunisian society dscribes trhe confrontation between secular and islamic elements in society. The dean,Habib Kazdaghli refuses to allow female students to attend classes wearing the veil.
The article comments that " Tunisia is still struggling to come to terms with what role Islam will play in public life"
It says that this could be the making or breaking of the Tunisian state and other countries in the region.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Tunisia-overnig...