TUNIS: Prime Minister Ali Larayedh yesterday said that Tunisia is making progress in its bid to dismantle “terrorist” cells despite the presence in the country of armed groups and recent clashes with Islamists.
“There is progress in dismantling the terrorist networks. We are confronted by small groups who practise terrorism and have links to terrorist parties,” Larayedh told a news conference.
“We will continue to pursue them and all people who practise violence or have links with the terrorists.”
But Larayedh acknowledged that the hunt for an armed group linked to Al Qaeda along the Algerian border, which began in late April, was still taking place.
“Our units continue their search operations at Mount Chaambi and there is nothing new about this,” he said.
Tunisian activist
to face charge
TUNIS: A young Tunisian women’s rights activist, who was arrested at the weekend while protesting against hardline Islamists, has been charged with possessing pepper spray, her lawyer said yesterday.
The 18-year-old, known by the pseudonym Amina Tyler, who sparked controversy in March by posting topless pictures of herself online, has been summoned to appear in court next Thursday, lawyer Mokhtar Janene said.
An investigating magistrate is also considering pressing a charge of desecrating a cemetery, which carries a sentence of up to two years in prison, Janene added.
Tyler was arrested in the central city of Kairouan on Sunday as she protested against Salafist movement Ansar Al Sharia’s plans to hold a congress in defiance of a government ban. Agencies
