http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/08/africa/AF-GEN-Tunisia-Militant-Gro
up.php

 

Islamic group vows fight over Tunisia head scarf ban

TUNIS, Tunisia: A statement posted Monday on an Islamic Web site in the name
of a militant group promised a fight against Tunisia's president in response
to an official ban on women wearing head scarves in public buildings.

The statement purported to come from The Youth of Tawhid and Jihad in
Tunisia, a group not previously linked to the country.

The statement suggested the group was involved in a gun battle last
Wednesday with the authorities. The Interior Ministry had acknowledged there
was a gun battle with police, but did not specify who was involved, saying
only that several "dangerous criminals" had been killed, the official TAP
news agency reported at the time.

The clash was the second within weeks in Tunisia, where such violence is
unusual.

"The mujahideen youth who engaged in fighting with the elements of the
despot are a bunch of the best youth in the country ... not criminals," the
statement said.
<http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/07/africa/keep%20web.0107tavernise.webo
nly.php> 

"For this, the faithful youth of Tunisia have declared jihad (holy war) and
fighting against the despot to stop his harm to the Muslims in general and
the veiled Muslim women in particular," the statement continued.

Tunisia, which bans Muslim head scarves in public buildings, prides itself
on promoting women's rights.

The name Tawhid and Jihad - Arabic for monotheism and Holy War - has been
used by militant groups in several countries where there are sympathies for
the al-Qaida terror network. The name was initially used by the group
al-Qaida in Iraq.

However, it has not in the past been identified with Tunisia, where the
banned Ennahda, or Renaissance, party has spawned militants.

Witnesses had reported a clash last Wednesday in the town of Soliman, some
40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the capital, Tunis. Two people were killed
in a similar incident in December in the Tunis suburb of Hammam-lif.

Authorities said only that the victims were part of a criminal gang. Two
officers were injured and two alleged gang members were arrested in the Dec.
23 clash, local newspapers reported.

Tunisia's political system bans dissenters, leading to regular complaints by
local and international human rights activists.



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