Tunisia’s Anti-terrorism Police Detain Former PM Larayedh

Ali Larayedh (C) Secretary General of the Tunisian party Ennahda and former Tunisian prime minister speaks while surrounded by his supporters, upon his arrival for questioning by anti-terrorism police, in Tunis,Tunisia, 19 September 2022. (EPA)
Ali Larayedh (C) Secretary General of the Tunisian party Ennahda and former Tunisian prime minister speaks while surrounded by his supporters, upon his arrival for questioning by anti-terrorism police, in Tunis,Tunisia, 19 September 2022. (EPA)
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Tunisia’s Anti-terrorism Police Detain Former PM Larayedh

Ali Larayedh (C) Secretary General of the Tunisian party Ennahda and former Tunisian prime minister speaks while surrounded by his supporters, upon his arrival for questioning by anti-terrorism police, in Tunis,Tunisia, 19 September 2022. (EPA)
Ali Larayedh (C) Secretary General of the Tunisian party Ennahda and former Tunisian prime minister speaks while surrounded by his supporters, upon his arrival for questioning by anti-terrorism police, in Tunis,Tunisia, 19 September 2022. (EPA)

Tunisia's anti-terrorism police detained for one day Ali Larayedh, a former prime minister and senior official in the Islamist opposition Ennahda party, after an investigation into suspicions of sending extremists to Syria, lawyers said on Tuesday.

In the same case, the police postponed the hearing of Ennahda leader and speaker of the dissolved parliament Rached Ghannouchi to midday on Tuesday, after waiting for about 14 hours.

It is expected that Larayedh will appear before a judge on Wednesday, lawyer Mokthar Jmayi told Reuters.

"We are shocked. The file is completely empty and without any evidence", Samir Dilou, another lawyer said.

Ennahda denies accusations of terrorism, calling it a political attack on a foe of President Kais Saied.

Ghannouchi, 81, has accused Saied of an anti-democratic coup since he seized most powers last summer, shutting down the parliament and moving to rule by decree, powers he has largely formalized with a new constitution ratified in a July referendum.

Last month, several former security officials and two Ennahda members were arrested on charges connected to Tunisians traveling to fight for extremist groups.

Security and official sources estimated that around 6,000 Tunisians traveled to Syria and Iraq last decade to join radical groups including ISIS. Many were killed there while others escaped and returned to Tunisia.



Erdogan Warns No Place for 'Terrorist' Groups in Syria

This handout photograph taken and released by Turkish Presidency Press Office on January 7, 2025, shows Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) shaking hands with Prime minister of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani (L) prior to their meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara. (Photo by Turkish Presidency Press Office / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by Turkish Presidency Press Office on January 7, 2025, shows Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) shaking hands with Prime minister of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani (L) prior to their meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara. (Photo by Turkish Presidency Press Office / AFP)
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Erdogan Warns No Place for 'Terrorist' Groups in Syria

This handout photograph taken and released by Turkish Presidency Press Office on January 7, 2025, shows Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) shaking hands with Prime minister of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani (L) prior to their meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara. (Photo by Turkish Presidency Press Office / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by Turkish Presidency Press Office on January 7, 2025, shows Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) shaking hands with Prime minister of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani (L) prior to their meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara. (Photo by Turkish Presidency Press Office / AFP)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said there was no place for "terrorist organizations" in Syria under its new leaders, in a warning regarding Kurdish forces there.

The fall of Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad last month raised the prospect of Türkiye intervening in the country against Kurdish forces accused by Ankara of links to armed separatists.

Erdogan's comment came during a meeting in Ankara with the prime minister of Iraq's Kurdish region, Masrour Barzani, the Turkish leader's office said in a statement.

Erdogan told Barzani that Türkiye was working to prevent the ousting of Assad in neighboring Syria from causing new instability in the region.

There is no place for "terrorist organizations or affiliated elements in the future of the new Syria," Erdogan said.

Ankara accuses one leading Kurdish force in Syria, the People's Protection Units (YPG), of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Türkiye.

The PKK has fought a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state and is banned as a terrorist organization by Ankara and its Western allies.

The Turkish military regularly launches strikes against Kurdish fighters in Syria and neighboring Iraq, accusing them of PKK links.

On Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said: "The elimination of the PKK/YPG is only a matter of time."

He cited a call by Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group has long had ties with Türkiye, for the Kurdish-led forces to be integrated into Syria's national army.

The United States has backed the YPG in its fight against ISIS, which has been largely crushed in its former Syrian stronghold.

But Fidan warned that Western countries should not use the threat of IS as "a pretext to strengthen the PKK".