Tunisia’s Ghannouchi Investigated on Terrorism Charges

Rached Ghannouchi, the head of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party and former speaker of the parliament, during an interview with Reuters at his office in Tunis, Tunisia, July 15, 2022. (Reuters)
Rached Ghannouchi, the head of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party and former speaker of the parliament, during an interview with Reuters at his office in Tunis, Tunisia, July 15, 2022. (Reuters)
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Tunisia’s Ghannouchi Investigated on Terrorism Charges

Rached Ghannouchi, the head of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party and former speaker of the parliament, during an interview with Reuters at his office in Tunis, Tunisia, July 15, 2022. (Reuters)
Rached Ghannouchi, the head of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party and former speaker of the parliament, during an interview with Reuters at his office in Tunis, Tunisia, July 15, 2022. (Reuters)

The leader of Tunisia’s main opposition party is due to be questioned by the country’s anti-terrorism unit on Tuesday on suspicion of money laundering and terrorist financing through an association charity.

The accused, Rached Ghannouchi, was among a dozen top Ennahdha party officials whose bank accounts the north African country’s central bank froze earlier this month.

The moderate Islamist Ennahdha vehemently disputes the accusations of money laundering and terrorism financing.

President Kais Saied suspended parliament last year and seized broad powers in a move that he said was necessary to "save the country" from a political and economic crisis. This prompted criticism from the opposition, which accuses him of a slide toward totalitarianism.

Ennahdha has said that these accusations are aimed at distracting attention from a July 25 referendum planned by Saied to change the constitution to augment presidential powers and reduce the role of the parliament and prime minister.

The president’s critics say he is trying to legitimize a "coup."

Opposition figure Nejib Chebbi said he feared Ghannouchi’s arrest after the hearing, denouncing what he called a "harassment campaign" unleashed by the government against "leading political figures."

Saied and some others blamed Ennahdha in part for Tunisia’s political crisis last year. Ennahdha, which dominated parliament before it was suspended, is among the president’s fiercest critics.



US Condemns Sudan's RSF for Attacks on Civilians, Calls for Accountability 

Displaced Sudanese children, who are mostly from the capital Khartoum, play at "Abdallah Nagi" shelter camp, in Port Sudan, Sudan April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
Displaced Sudanese children, who are mostly from the capital Khartoum, play at "Abdallah Nagi" shelter camp, in Port Sudan, Sudan April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Condemns Sudan's RSF for Attacks on Civilians, Calls for Accountability 

Displaced Sudanese children, who are mostly from the capital Khartoum, play at "Abdallah Nagi" shelter camp, in Port Sudan, Sudan April 15, 2025. (Reuters)
Displaced Sudanese children, who are mostly from the capital Khartoum, play at "Abdallah Nagi" shelter camp, in Port Sudan, Sudan April 15, 2025. (Reuters)

The Trump administration on Tuesday condemned attacks by Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on civilians in North Darfur and called for parties in the country's civil war to be held accountable for breaches of international humanitarian law.

"We are deeply alarmed by reports the RSF has deliberately targeted civilians and humanitarian actors in Zamzam and Abu Shouk," US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters, referring to two camps in the region where hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced in recent days, according to the UN.

"The belligerents must uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law and must be held accountable," Bruce added.

The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the army and RSF, shattering hopes for a transition to civilian rule.

The warring parties should put down their guns and negotiate a durable peace, said Bruce, who declined to say if the US was conducting diplomacy toward a settlement.

Bruce also declined to say whether the Trump administration agreed with a finding by the State Department under former President Joe Biden that the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in the conflict.