The 2011 demonstrations in a number of Arab countries allowed for revealing the negligence of political regimes in dealing with Islamic movement organizations, whether from a political and security perspective, or the necessary and necessary contexts related to ways to confront the expansion of these ideas, as well as their ability to pump new members into their organizational formations, which It made the country known for what was called the “Arab Spring” incubators for a number of Takfiri organizations and a platform from which cross-border terrorist acts were launched.

As Tunisia removed the regime of the late President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, it seemed to be groaning under the weight of the birth of an unlimited number of radical organizations, especially in light of the absence of state institutions and the ability of the “Ennahda Movement,” the arm of the “Muslim Brotherhood” in Tunisia, to rule the country and seize its institutions. To call it the phenomenon of Salafist jihadism.

Tunisia and Salafist jihadism

Jihadist Salafism in Tunisia derives its intellectual approach from various sources, as it was formed through many Islamic currents, especially what it derived from the “takfiri” ideas of Sayyid Qutb and his approach to using force and violence against the state and dismantling or demolishing its institutions, as well as the literature of the “Muslim Brotherhood.”

Some believe that jihadist Salafism emerged as an independent trend from the traditional Salafist preaching movement within the framework of a regional and international circumstance during the end of the eighties of the last century, after the return of the “Afghan Arabs” to their country, while a large number of Tunisian youth who acquired organizational experience were formed within those takfiri organizations. Combat and field camps in Afghanistan during the war against the Soviet Union.

The first Salafist movement in Tunisia was founded in 1988 and was called the “Tunisian Islamic Front.” The front was headed by Muhammad Khoja, Muhammad Ali Harath, and Abdullah Al-Haji, while the orientations of the Islamic Front were close intellectually, politically, and organizationally to the Islamic Salvation Front in Algeria, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs classified it as The United States is among the “global terrorist organizations.” However, the organizational structure of this movement faded after most of its leaders migrated into exile and the arrest of others in Tunisia during the 1990s on charges of terrorism.

The jihadist movement carried out a group of terrorist operations and individual armed attacks during the rule of former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, such as the bombing of the Jewish synagogue with a car bomb on the island of Djerba, southeastern Tunisia, in April 2002, which killed a number of German tourists. Confrontations also occurred between armed and takfiri elements and the Tunisian army in the southern suburbs of Tunisia, at the end of the year 2006, which were known as the “Suleiman” events. They were carried out by an organization calling itself “Jund Asad bin al-Furat,” while the last operation claimed the lives of members of the Tunisian army and was followed by a massive arrest campaign. It included hundreds of jihadists.

“Nahda” is involved in terrorism!

In this context, Tunisian MP Fatima Al-Masdi confirms that Ali Al-Arayedh is the primary official in the deportation file, especially at the level of security appointments and promotions that occurred at that time. Al-Masadi continued her talk to Al-Hal Net that these security appointments and promotions contributed directly and effectively to the issue of transfer and cooperation with terrorists, as well as to the issue of obtaining fraudulent passports, in addition to facilitating the entry and exit of fighters through airports.

Islamist groups did not hesitate to deceive an important sector of the political and social elite by claiming that they were a preaching and reform movement and not a movement of violence and destruction. However, their violent activities and practices of a terrorist nature refute these allegations and expose their falsity.

The author of the report on the deportation file adds to the security and judicial services in Tunisia that Ali Al-Arayedh is also responsible for many of the incidents that threatened Tunisia’s national security by dismantling the security system within the borders and the frameworks for the entry of foreigners into the country, especially those related to the issue of border control, in addition to his interference in the selection of security leaders. Excluding competencies and appointing those with loyalties that facilitate all procedures that facilitate the goals of political Islam organizations.

Tunisian academic Abdul Latif Al-Hanashi points out in his book “Takfiri Salafism in Tunisia” that it was striking that Tunisia became one of the countries whose youth rushed early to engage in this jihadist and Takfiri Salafist activity at the regional and international levels, leading to the limited activity in Tunisia, and then the strong push that It became apparent after the beginning of 2011, which granted these people the freedom to activity and expand since the issuance of a legislative amnesty on the symbols of these groups and their organizational leaders. While these groups did not hesitate to deceive an important sector of the political and social elite by claiming that they are an advocacy and reform movement and not a movement of violence and destruction, however, their activity Its violent practices of a terrorist nature refute these allegations and expose their falsity.

Al-Hanashi confirms in his book that a real danger represents the present and future of the national state, as it faces the crisis of the growth of those Takfiri Salafist groups that “have been active in a society that seems to have a tendency to extremism, in light of their ability to mobilize thousands of Tunisian youth, which is proven by the statistics of the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior, which It reveals dozens of terrorist cells daily, in addition to groups whose travel bans the relevant state institutions have been able to ban on suspicion of their desire to engage in conflict fronts.”

In addition, Tunisian writer Murad Allala points out that the issuance by the investigating judge, No. 12, in charge of looking into the deportation file at the anti-terrorism judicial pole, into a prison sentence against the deputy of the “Ennahdha Movement,” Ali Al-Arayedh, can be considered an advanced step in the framework of deciding what is known as the files of the decade of the rule of political Islam. In Tunisia, what Allaleh considers, in the context of his statements to Al-Hal Net, to be a step that carries many implications, perhaps the most prominent of which is that the judge in charge of the file, after investigating Ali Al-Arayedh, the “Nahdawi leader,” reached what made him change the detention decision to the decision to place him in prison, and that will be the case. According to the law, for periods that may last for months, until the investigations are completed with the various suspects in the case, which are estimated at hundreds, it is concluded and the trial begins, which may also be long.

Allalah says that Ali Al-Arayedh bears, in our estimation, the political responsibility in the transfer file and other files related to the national security of the Tunisian state, as he was part of the political team that bears the responsibilities of governance, and even more than that, he was between March 13 of the year 2013 and January 29. From the year 2014, he served as Prime Minister of the Interim Government and before that as Minister of the Interior between December 24, 2011 and March 13, 2019, which was the dark period in which terrorism took hold and terrorists tampered with it.

Tunisian and non-Tunisian victims

I believe, and the discussion extends to the same source, that the Tunisian judiciary today is the only one capable, and what is required of it is to determine criminal responsibility or not, and a fair and efficient judiciary is one that does not prolong the duration of the trial and provides all the guarantees of a fair trial, and this can only be achieved with the continued recovery of the judiciary, the liberation of the judges, and their assuming their responsibilities in doing justice to the people. And the country, especially in these files with a security dimension, which were at a high cost and claimed the lives of many Tunisians and even non-Tunisians.

Tunisian journalist Murad Allala points out that information regarding the deportation file is scarce and what has so far been revealed by some officials or by the defense team, including Ali Al-Arayedh’s lawyer and other leaders in the “Nahda” organization, in addition to MP Fatima Al-Masdi, who took the initiative to file the complaint in 2021, reflects… Despite the lack of seriousness of what was happening in the country, various estimates revealed that the number of deceived young people who were deported via Libya and Turkey ranged, according to official and unofficial sources, between 2,400 and 8,000 Tunisians, a number of whom traveled from the airport with a passport.

Among the points in which Ali Al-Arayedh was directly accused, at least by virtue of functional and legal responsibility, were the job promotions he made in the Tunisian Ministry of Interior while supervising it and some of those whose names appeared on the list among those arrested in the same case.

The political responsibility of political Islam, led by the Brotherhood’s “Nahda,” must be emphasized regarding the issue of deportation and transfer of fighters to hotbeds of tension and fighting, as well as all the problems and crises that occurred in the country against the backdrop of its absolute adherence to power and rule.

The same applies to the real motives for classifying “Ansar al-Sharia” as a terrorist organization when he became prime minister. Everyone knows the special relationship that this organization had with the “Nahda” organization.

Likewise, the former Brigadier General of the “Tunisian National Guard,” Ali Zarmedini, points out that, above all, the political responsibility of political Islam, led by the “Ennahda Movement,” the political arm of the “Muslim Brotherhood” in Tunisia, must be acknowledged and emphasized without ambiguity, regarding the issue of deportation and transfer of fighters. Hotbeds of tension and fighting, as well as all the problems and crises that occurred in the country against the backdrop of its absolute adherence to power and rule.

On the other hand, security expert Ali Al-Zarmedini adds in the context of his statements to Al-Hal Net that a number of leading figures in the Ennahdha Movement must be looked into and scrutinized, especially an analysis of the personality of the leader Ali Al-Arayedh, who assumed the position of Minister of the Interior during the period of time in which it seemed The phenomenon of deporting fighters to Syria, Libya and Iraq is linked to Tunisia, as is the thought of his son Hisham, who carries an ideology close to ISIS (the terrorist organization ISIS).

It is difficult to look at this file while the Tunisian judiciary is examining all the files and documents related to it, apart from the fact that Ali Al-Arayedh was one of the hawks of the “Ennahda Movement,” which made him move steadily towards the goals of political Islam internally and regionally and supported all Islamist organizations in the Middle East during that period, but he was keen To appear as a gentle lamb when he assumes power.

But he always provided the back cover for all parties that handled field issues, as well as his direct supervision of planning and preparation, without appearing to be at the forefront of the scene.

Ali Al-Zarmedini, former Brigadier General of the Tunisian National Guard, points out that Ali Al-Arayedh hides a hidden grudge against the security establishment in Tunisia and was able to surround himself with prominent members of the parallel security and held security meetings at the movement’s headquarters and elsewhere with the aim of facilitating all the tasks of the Ennahda leaders to facilitate their interventions and obtain… He obtained official documents to send fighters out of the country, as well as his effective role in relieving prominent security leaders to support their goals of infiltrating the security apparatus and facilitating all their movements, as was the case in the incident of smuggling the most dangerous terrorist element (Abu Ayyad) from the Al-Fath Mosque in Tunis.