1 killed, 65 injured in Tunisian Salafist riots

Curfew announced as Ennahda dismisses coup sepculations

Arabstoday Wednesday, 13 June 2012 08:00 GMT o o o o o o o o o o o o o
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Tunisian Salafists have become increasingly active post-revolution Tunis - Nbil Zaghdoud

Tunisia's government on Wednesday sought to contain some of the worst unrest since last year's democratic revolution after rioting blamed on hardline Islamists led to 165 arrests and a nighttime curfew. One man died and around 100 people were injured, including 65 policemen, as a result of the wave of unrest, which appears to have been triggered by an art exhibit that included works deemed offensive to Islam. A 22-year-old protestor who sustained a bullet wound to the head during clashes between Salafist protestors and police Tuesday in the eastern city of Sousse died of his wounds in hospital, an official said. On the last day of the exhibit entitled "The Spring of the Arts" in the northern Tunis neighbourhood of La Marsa Sunday, two individuals requested that "blasphemous" works be pulled down. One incriminated painting by artist Mohamed Ben Slama showed a naked woman with bearded men standing behind her. Secular activists and artistic circles soon rallied their troops over social networks for a showdown at the venue aimed at defending freedom of expression and the right to artistic creation. Later on Sunday, several men identified as Salafists entered the art gallery and destroyed several pieces on display. Government representatives announced that the art exhibition would be forced to close immediately. The officials announced that legal action would be taken against the organisers of the show for displaying artwork that was allegedly offensive to Islam. One of the most controversial pieces included the name of Allah in Arabic written with dead flies. Tunisia's Minister of Human Rights and Transitional Justice, Samir Dilou, stated that he considered the art exhibition both offensive and provocative. Dilou said that the Ministry of Culture approved the show on the condition that its organisers assumed full responsibility for any damage to the site. While the minister said he supported the principle of freedom of expression and peaceful

protest, he made it clear that the government would not tolerate attacks targeting public and private institutions. The ultra-conservative Islamists denied involvement but the incident sparked clashes Monday and Tuesday that saw police stations, political party offices and a court torched in Tunis and several other parts of the country. Justice Minister Nourredine Bhiri condemned the violence and pledged that the guilty would pay a heavy price. "These are terrorist groups which have lost control, they are isolated in society," he told radio Shems FM. The authorities on Tuesday imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in eight of the north African country's regions, including the greater Tunis area. The 9pm-5am curfew was applied to the governorates of Tunis, Ariana, Ben Arous, Manouba, Sousse, Monastir, and Ben Guerdane, near the Libyan border. Tension remained high on Wednesday as artists were scheduled to hold a rally in front of the ministry of culture. Some Tunisians accuse the government, led by moderate Islamist party Ennahda, of being too lenient with the Salafists, who have aggressively pushed their agenda since the January 2011 fall of president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. A radical imam, Abou Ayoub, said in a video circulated on Facebook: "The Muslim population must rise up Friday after prayers in response to those who mock Islam." "Since the fall of Ben Ali, the infidels have not stopped mocking our religion, and it's becoming more frequent every day," said Ayoub, who had called in October 2011 for attacks on television station Nessma after it broadcast the French-Iranian animated film "Persepolis". Commentators said the overnight unrest started just two days after al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri called on Tunisians to demand the imposition of Sharia, or Muslim religious law. Ennahda leader Rachid Ghannouchi said on Tunisian state television channel Wataniya that the riots had nothing to do with Zawahiri's demands. "I dont think we have Al Qaeda in Tunisia," Ghannouchi said. "The Salafist movement in Tunisia may have so much extremism but with time it will vanish. Our own party used to have extremists itself," Ghannouchi added. Others suspected a plot by Ben Ali sympathisers to destabilise the country and reclaim power. "The fact that the violence erupted in several places at the same time makes us think that it was organised," said Tarrouche. A military court on Wednesday sentenced Ben Ali to 20 years imprisonment in absentia on charges of "inciting disorder, murder and looting" over the deaths of four youths, killed in the town of Ouardanine in mid-January 2011. Four protestors were shot dead in the eastern coastal town as they tried to prevent the flight of Ben Ali's nephew Kais, a day after the strongman himself flew out of the country on January 14. The victims' relatives have accused the security apparatus of ordering police to open fire on the crowd. Ben Ali, who lives in exile in Saudi Arabia, faces countless trials and has already been sentenced to more than 66 years in prison on a range of other charges including drug trafficking and embezzlement.