Priest predicts radical Salafists will not come to power in Tunisia
June 13, 2012
The director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Tunisia has told the Fides news agency that he does not believe that Salafists—radical Islamists associated with terrorism— will come to power in the north African nation.
“So far, the Islamic party in power, Ennhada, has adopted the policy of dialogue with the extremists,” said Father Jawad Alamat. “I am confident that the Tunisian people that rebelled against the tyranny of the previous regime will be able to cope with a group, however violent, but still a minority.”
The Arab Spring uprising led to the overthrow of strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in early 2011.
The priest warned, however, that “the more the economic situation worsens, the easier it is for the Salafists to recruit new followers, since their movement is well funded, especially from abroad.”
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