In recent decades, Salafist movements in Tunisia would typically gain momentum whenever militant leaders living in Europe, the Gulf region or Afghanistan would return to Tunisia. Upon returning, the leaders would generally receive the patronage of local mosques and religious leaders, connecting the Salafists with a support base. When leaders returned from fighting the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s, they spread ideas that contributed to the rise of the Tunisian Islamic Front, a Salafist militant group, in 1986. More recently, Salafist groups emerged in 2002 and 2006, launching attacks before being dismantled by Ben Ali's regime, which took a hard line against the militants.
After the fall of Ben Ali in January 2011, the new government launched an amnesty program that facilitated the release of many jailed Salafists. Sensing a more open environment in which to operate, many Salafist sympathizers studying in Saudi Arabia and Europe then began returning to Tunis. Local Salafist groups have mainly focused their attention on education and social services, but they have become increasingly political as result of Ennahda's refusal to incorporate Sharia into Tunisia's new constitution.
Some of the groups, such as Ansar al-Sharia, have roots in militant activity. Ansar al-Sharia formed in April 2011 in a Tunis suburb as an assembly of repatriated elements of the Tunisian diaspora. The group operates under the leadership of Saif Allah Ben Hussein (also known as Abu Ayad), who was involved with the Tunisian team that assassinated Ahmed Shah Massoud, the leader of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, two days before the 9/11 attacks. While some Ansar al-Sharia leaders are former jihadists, the group is best known in Tunisia for organizing discussion forums and awareness campaigns. Although the group helped organize the recent riots, it claims to reject violence on the basis that Tunisia is an inappropriate location for armed conflict.
Common Salafist Interests
Ansar al-Sharia has gained notable momentum recently. The group's last meeting drew some 5,000 supporters, including the spokesman for the radical transnational Islamist movement Hizb al-Tahrir, which claims to reject conventional political activity and seeks to re-establish a supra-national caliphate. The spokesman's presence likely indicates a burgeoning alliance between Hizb al-Tahrir and Ansar al-Sharia, which share a common opposition to Ennahda's moderate Islamism and, more important, a need to collaborate to overcome currently weak positions.
A third Tunisian Salafist group is the Tunis-based Reform Front, led by Mohamed Belkhouja. Unlike Ansar al-Sharia and Hizb al-Tahrir, the Reform Front is a more conventional political organization. It sought and received official certification to campaign in the March 2013 general elections. The group was banned under the Ben Ali regime, and Belkhouja was jailed until the fall of the regime. The Reform Front advocates the implementation of Sharia and the creation of an Islamic state in Tunisia, although it espouses less rigid views than the other two groups.
It is unclear how closely the groups have collaborated thus far, but each has an interest in eroding the credibility of the Ennahda-led government before Tunisia's next elections in 2013. The groups do not have the collective strength to seriously threaten the current government's hold on power, but their ability to put thousands of supporters in the streets is enough to prevent Ennahda from focusing on long-term imperatives such as drafting a constitution and stabilizing the country's economy.
Riots and widespread public dissatisfaction could undermine voter support for Ennahda, while also creating tensions between the party and its secular allies. However, given the divergent ideologies and political aspirations of the Salafist groups, Ennahda will likely try to pacify at least one faction through constitutional concessions or promised roles in a future government.
