Tunisian Party Calls For Designating Muslim Brotherhood as Terrorist Organization

A riot police officer fires teargas during clashes with supporters of Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia at Hai al Tadamon in Tunis May 19, 2013. REUTERS/Anis Mili
A riot police officer fires teargas during clashes with supporters of Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia at Hai al Tadamon in Tunis May 19, 2013. REUTERS/Anis Mili
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Tunisian Party Calls For Designating Muslim Brotherhood as Terrorist Organization

A riot police officer fires teargas during clashes with supporters of Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia at Hai al Tadamon in Tunis May 19, 2013. REUTERS/Anis Mili
A riot police officer fires teargas during clashes with supporters of Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia at Hai al Tadamon in Tunis May 19, 2013. REUTERS/Anis Mili

Tunisia's Free Constitutional Party bloc announced Monday its decision to submit a new draft resolution to classify the Muslim Brotherhood as a “terrorist organization” and a movement deemed “hostile to the civil state".

The Muslim Brotherhood should be designated as a terrorist organization in Tunisia, a petition submitted to the Tunisian Parliament by head of the Tunisian opposition figure and President of the Free Destourian Party (PDL) Abir Moussi said on Monday.

In a press conference, Moussi explained that the new draft resolution calls on the government to formally “classify the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization that is hostile to the civil state” and push the state to “consider any Tunisian person or entity that has connections to this organization as being guilty of a terrorist crime according to the law on terrorism.”

“Today we want a clear political position. Political parties and politicians who want to openly dissociate themselves from the Muslim Brotherhood organization must prove so and vote in favor of this draft motion,” Moussi said.

“Some political entities and civil society groups in Tunisia have leaders and members who belong to the Muslim Brotherhood and receive funding from the organization,” the PDL leader said, adding that such a situation is “inconceivable” as it is a “threat to national sovereignty.”

Ennahda and its leaders have in the past denied affiliation to the Muslim Brotherhood organization and reiterated their denunciation of terrorism.

But Ennahda’s critics and rivals, including the PDL, have highlighted the ideological and historical links of Ennahda with the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist affiliations and criticized its links to Brotherhood-aligned governments in Ankara, Doha and Tripoli as being detrimental to the national interest.

On June 3., Tunisia's Free Constitutional Party submitted a bill to the parliament to express rejection to any foreign military intervention in Libya, especially the Turkish intervention. Yet, it didn’t garner sufficient votes to be passed.



US Military Strikes Iranian-Backed Militia Targets in Syria

The US has about 900 personnel in Syria to assist partnered forces in conducting missions against ISIS militants. (Reuters file)
The US has about 900 personnel in Syria to assist partnered forces in conducting missions against ISIS militants. (Reuters file)
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US Military Strikes Iranian-Backed Militia Targets in Syria

The US has about 900 personnel in Syria to assist partnered forces in conducting missions against ISIS militants. (Reuters file)
The US has about 900 personnel in Syria to assist partnered forces in conducting missions against ISIS militants. (Reuters file)

The US struck nine targets at two locations in Syria Monday to hit Iranian-aligned militias that had launched attacks on US personnel over the last 24 hours, US Central Command said.

No US personnel were injured in the attacks, but as of late Monday the Pentagon did not provide further details on what US sites in Syria had been attacked or what sites the US struck in return.

The US has about 900 personnel in Syria to assist partnered forces in conducting missions against ISIS militants. In February it launched a massive attack on Iranian-backed militia sites in Syria in response to a drone attack in Jordan that killed three US service members.

Since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in Israel, and Israel's large-scale response in Gaza, Iran-backed fighters who are loosely allied with Hamas have carried out drone and rocket attacks on bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria.