Egypt's gold prices fall on Wednesday    Finance Ministry presents three new investor facilitation packages to PM to boost investment climate    Egypt, Bahrain explore deeper cooperation on water resource management    Egypt condemns Israeli offensive in Gaza City, warns of grave regional consequences    Cairo University, Roche Diagnostics inaugurate automated lab at Qasr El-Ainy    Egypt expands medical, humanitarian support for Gaza patients    Egypt investigates disappearance of ancient bracelet from Egyptian Museum in Tahrir    Egypt launches international architecture academy with UNESCO, European partners    African trade ministers meet in Cairo to push forward with AfCFTA    Egypt's President, Pakistan's PM condemn Israeli attack on Qatar    Egypt signs MoUs with 3 European universities to advance architecture, urban studies    Madrid trade talks focus on TikTok as US and China seek agreement    Egypt wins Aga Khan Award for Architecture for Esna revival project    Egypt's Sisi, Qatar's Emir condemn Israeli strikes, call for Gaza ceasefire    Egypt condemns terrorist attack in northwest Pakistan    Egypt advances plans to upgrade historic Cairo with Azbakeya, Ataba projects    Egyptian pound ends week lower against US dollar – CBE    Egypt hosts G20 meeting for 1st time outside member states    Egypt to tighten waste rules, cut rice straw fees to curb pollution    Egypt seeks Indian expertise to boost pharmaceutical industry    Egypt prepares unified stance ahead of COP30 in Brazil    Egypt harvests 315,000 cubic metres of rainwater in Sinai as part of flash flood protection measures    Al-Sisi says any party thinking Egypt will neglect water rights is 'completely mistaken'    Egyptian, Ugandan Presidents open business forum to boost trade    Egypt's Sisi, Uganda's Museveni discuss boosting ties    Egypt's Sisi warns against unilateral Nile measures, reaffirms Egypt's water security stance    Greco-Roman rock-cut tombs unearthed in Egypt's Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Violence plagues Tunisia's politics 2 years later
Two years after the revolution that overthrew an authoritarian president and started the Arab Spring, Tunisia is struggling with high unemployment and rising violence in its politics
Published in Ahram Online on 14 - 01 - 2013

After sounding the alarm for months over the rise of religious extremists in Tunisia, the opposition now warns that the new threat to this North African country's democratic transition are vigilante bands allied to the elected government.
Tunisia has yet to witness the almost daily clashes characterizing nearby Egypt's rowdy politics or the rampant assassinations and kidnappings of militia-plagued Libya to the east, but the rise in violence is a shock for this once calm, largely middle class North African nation of 10 million.
The country's stability and prosperity came at the price of a brutal decades-long dictatorship that was finally overthrown in a popular uprising on Jan. 14, 2011. In its aftermath, a lot of pent-up tensions have spilled out.
Differences of political opinion or just demands for jobs and benefits are increasingly being expressed through violence, threatening Tunisia's efforts to become a democracy after a half century of dictatorship. Just last week, residents of Ben Guerdane, a border town with Libya, battled police and set fire to cars for three days protesting the closure of the frontier on which their livelihood depends.
The violence is being exacerbated by the emergence of radical groups, often religious, that seek to "impose their political and ideological model on society through a variety of means," said Slahhedine Jourchi, an analyst of Islamist movements in Tunisia.
Following the country's first free elections in October 2011, a moderate Islamist party allied with two secular parties came to power and began the process of writing a new constitution, but the country is still plagued by economic woes and sporadic violence — often by religious extremists.
The latest groups in the spotlight are the Leagues for the Protection of the Revolution, which the opposition claims are allied with the government and used to attack its opponents.
Their rise comes just as the salafis, ultraconservative Muslims that often violently pushed for a more pious society, have gone underground following a government crackdown in the wake of their Sept. 14 attack on the U.S. Embassy over an amateur film made in the U.S. attacking the Prophet Muhammad.
Instead, the violence seems now to be coming from these new leagues, which have about 300 chapters throughout the country and have been implicated in attacks on the main union headquarters as well as several meetings of a new opposition party that includes figures from the previous regime.
"They are a threat to the civil peace and the democratic transition in Tunisia," said Samir Taieb, an opposition member in the legislative assembly. He said that many of the leagues' members have been arrested committing acts of violence, only to be released because of their political connections.
Many opposition figures are calling for the leagues to be dissolved.
The groups were legalized five months ago and grew out of the neighborhood watch committees that sprung up in the chaotic days after the revolution to protect residential areas, explained Mohammed Maalej, the head of the leagues' central body.
"We are the conscience of the people and a pressure force to achieve the goals of the revolution, discover corruption and denounce its perpetrators — something the current political leadership has yet to accomplish," he told The Associated Press.
He maintained that the group has "never advocated violence" and if certain members were involved "we are the first to condemn them."
In October, league members in the southern town of Tataouine clashed with a local union, resulting in the death of union head Lutfi Narguez. The autopsy said the cause of death was a heart attack brought on by being subject to violence.
Members of the league also allegedly attacked the home of Kamel Eltayef, a businessman with ties to the old regime that has since been working with the opposition.
One of the main targets of their ire, however, is a new political party called Nida Tunis (Tunisia's Call) led by Caid Beiji Essebsi, a veteran politician that ran the interim government until elections.
Many figures associated with the previous regime have flocked to the party, prompting accusations that they seek to restore the old system.
A political meeting of the party on the resort island of Djerba was besieged by hundreds of alleged members of the leagues on Dec. 23, according to party members.
In the face of what it describes as a lack of government concern, Nida Tunis has threatened to file a suit against the leagues with the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
The most serious incident involving the leagues, however, came in early December, when men described as being part of the leagues assaulted with clubs and stones a march at the main union headquarters in the capital Tunis.
The powerful union, which has emerged in recent months as a focus of opposition to the government, threatened to shut the country down with a general strike until a compromise deal was finally struck. Jourchi, the analyst, warned that the leagues are "becoming a factor for instability," pointing out that their job of "protecting the revolution," should be the business of the state.
The rise of violence and internal tensions in Tunisia couldn't come at a worse time as the situation outside its borders deteriorates, with al-Qaida newly active in the Sahara, partly fueled by the weapons pouring out of Libya's civil war. In December, police reported finding two militant training camps near the Algerian border, likely to prepare disaffected Tunisians to join the jihads south in Mali or neighboring Algeria.
"With the situation in Libya, the Algerian border and in northern Mali, the threat posed by armed groups is likely to increase," Jourchi said.


Clic here to read the story from its source.