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Tunisian Activists Demand Answers on Ennahda Movement’s Secret Apparatus

Tunisia's Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi briefs the media about his proposed government list during a press conference in Carthage, on August 10, 2020. AFP
Tunisia's Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi briefs the media about his proposed government list during a press conference in Carthage, on August 10, 2020. AFP
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Tunisian Activists Demand Answers on Ennahda Movement’s Secret Apparatus

Tunisia's Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi briefs the media about his proposed government list during a press conference in Carthage, on August 10, 2020. AFP
Tunisia's Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi briefs the media about his proposed government list during a press conference in Carthage, on August 10, 2020. AFP

Head of the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH) Jamel Messalem has requested Hichem Mechichi’s government to launch an enquiry into the political assassinations that the country has witnessed and reveal the details of Ennahda Movement’s "secret apparatus."

Messalem said Mechichi’s approval to his request would indicate his sincerity in fighting terrorist organizations and affirm his impartiality.

Holding accountable those involved in sending young Tunisians to areas of conflict would prove that Tunisia has a just and independent judicial system, he said.

Regarding the terrorist attack in Sousse on Sunday, Messalem said it coincided with the new government assuming its duties. “The new interior minister was in the city, which affirms that the attack was planned.”

He pointed out that the terrorist elements took advantage of the political tension in the country and the pro-extremism rhetoric to plan the attack and to confuse the new government.

He further called for “besieging, exposing and defaming supporters of terrorism.”

Spokesman for Nabil Karoui’s Liberal Heart of Tunisia party Sadiq Jabnoun said the parliamentary front formed to support Mechichi’s government in receiving the vote of confidence sought to end the political crisis and achieve a certain level of political stability after years of turmoil.

Heart of Tunisia party (26 MPs), Ennahda movement (54 MPs), Al-Karama Coalition (19 MPs) and the Future bloc (9 MPs) formed a single parliamentary front to serve political stability and ensure a smooth democratic transition, he noted.

Member of Ennahda movement’s executive bureau Belkacem Hassan told Asharq Al-Awsat that his party was certain that Mechichi’s government would receive the vote of confidence.

“Ennahda believes in the importance of ensuring stability and avoiding political vacuum by dissolving parliament and calling for early parliamentary elections,” Hassan stressed.

The newly appointed government would have failed over lack of support. However, the parliamentary alliance formed by Ennahda, Heart of Tunisia and al-Karama coalition changed the outcome.

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Arab World

Libya's Anti-NGO Push Seen as Diversion from Internal Failures, Analysts Say

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah - File Photo
Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah - File Photo
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Libya's Anti-NGO Push Seen as Diversion from Internal Failures, Analysts Say

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah - File Photo
Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah - File Photo

Libya's suspension of 10 international humanitarian groups, part of a broader crackdown on African migrants, is aimed at masking domestic failures and securing external concessions, particularly from Europe, analysts have said, AFP reported.

Libya's Tripoli-based authorities announced on Wednesday a decision to suspend the Norwegian Refugee Council, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Terre des Hommes, CESVI and six other groups, accusing them of a plan to "settle migrants" from other parts of Africa in the country.

War-torn Libya is a key departure point on North Africa's Mediterranean coast for migrants, mainly from sub-Saharan African countries, risking dangerous sea voyages in the hope of reaching Europe.

Anas al-Gomati, director of the Tripoli-based Sadeq Institute think tank, said "this isn't about NGOs -- it's about creating enemies to distract from failures".

The UN-recognized government of Abdulhamid Dbeibah is "tapping into conservative anxieties while masking their inability to provide basic services", he told AFP.

The ultimate goal, according to Gomati, is to "extract concessions from Europe which, fearing potential migration surges, will offer new funding packages and prop up the government in Tripoli".

On Wednesday, Rome announced the allocation of 20 million euros to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to finance "voluntary repatriations" for 3,300 sub-Saharan migrants who arrived in Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.

"This isn't coincidence -- its coordination. The Libyan authorities shut down NGOs providing monitoring and protection (for migrants) precisely as Italy announces 20 million euros for 'voluntary' returns," said Gomati.

"Italy gets to claim they're funding 'voluntary' returns while Libya gets to demonstrate 'sovereignty', all while vulnerable migrants face extortion in detention before being labelled 'volunteers' for deportation."

Libya analyst Jalel Harchaoui noted that the Tripoli government is adopting a similar tone to Tunisian President Kais Saied, who in early 2023 denounced what he called "hordes of sub-Saharan migrants" who threatened to "change the country's demographic composition".

Harchaoui, of the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said Dbeibah was facing considerable difficulties, particularly in gaining access to public funds, and his once pragmatic relationship with the Haftar family in the east had deteriorated.

Following the NGO ban, aid groups have expressed concern for both their Libyan colleagues and the migrants who have been made more vulnerable in a country that, according to the IOM, is home to more than 700,000 residents from sub-Saharan countries.

The International Commission of Jurists on Friday condemned the "recent collective expulsions, arrests, violent attacks and the surge of hate speech, including that which constitutes incitement to violence, against migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Libya".

The organization noted that the Libyan interior ministry has pledged "the deportation of 100,000 migrants every four months".