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| Tunisia ill-prepared to tackle homegrown threat as jihadi tide turns | Tunisia ill-prepared to tackle homegrown threat as jihadi tide turns |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| To most of his classmates, Seifeddine Rezgui was a diligent student chasing top grades as a route out of poverty. He was a hip-hop fan, clean-shaven with “hair like Michael Jackson”, often swept back in a ponytail. | To most of his classmates, Seifeddine Rezgui was a diligent student chasing top grades as a route out of poverty. He was a hip-hop fan, clean-shaven with “hair like Michael Jackson”, often swept back in a ponytail. |
| In the historic university town of Kairouan, there was a mosque just a few paces from the apartment he shared with four standoffish friends, but they almost never prayed there. | In the historic university town of Kairouan, there was a mosque just a few paces from the apartment he shared with four standoffish friends, but they almost never prayed there. |
| Nobody in the neighbourhood realised they were living next door to a fanatical killer-in-training. When pictures first emerged of the man who had slaughtered 38 tourists at a nearby beach resort, Skander Ben Ameur could hardly believe his eyes. It was the student who had often stopped by his King Fast Food stall to pick up a wrap – light on the chilli – for lunch. | Nobody in the neighbourhood realised they were living next door to a fanatical killer-in-training. When pictures first emerged of the man who had slaughtered 38 tourists at a nearby beach resort, Skander Ben Ameur could hardly believe his eyes. It was the student who had often stopped by his King Fast Food stall to pick up a wrap – light on the chilli – for lunch. |
| “They [extremists] have changed their tactics; there are no beards and they act normally,” said Ameur, preparing for evening trade metres from Rezgui’s last home. | “They [extremists] have changed their tactics; there are no beards and they act normally,” said Ameur, preparing for evening trade metres from Rezgui’s last home. |
| It was an extremely effective disguise, and when they locked their heavy iron door and vanished for days at a time, anyone who gave it a moment’s thought assumed the boys had headed home. | It was an extremely effective disguise, and when they locked their heavy iron door and vanished for days at a time, anyone who gave it a moment’s thought assumed the boys had headed home. |
| In fact, on at least one occasion Rezgui had travelled to Libya for weapons training, part of the biggest exodus of jihadi fighters from any single country in the world. More than 3,000 young Tunisians have headed into battle in Libya, Syria and Iraq. In poor towns across the interior, everyone knows a family that has lost a son to what most think is someone else’s war. | In fact, on at least one occasion Rezgui had travelled to Libya for weapons training, part of the biggest exodus of jihadi fighters from any single country in the world. More than 3,000 young Tunisians have headed into battle in Libya, Syria and Iraq. In poor towns across the interior, everyone knows a family that has lost a son to what most think is someone else’s war. |
| For several years it seemed to be a one-way flow that carried away the most radical young men, tearing holes in the heart of individual families but leaving the wider nation not visibly touched – even, perhaps, seeming a little less vulnerable to fanatics elsewhere. | For several years it seemed to be a one-way flow that carried away the most radical young men, tearing holes in the heart of individual families but leaving the wider nation not visibly touched – even, perhaps, seeming a little less vulnerable to fanatics elsewhere. |
| Related: Tunisia's clear and present danger | Related: Tunisia's clear and present danger |
| In 2013, however, there were two political assassinations and a failed suicide attack on a beach hotel. In March this year, two gunmen cut a bloody swath through tourists who had come to admire mosaics in the hushed halls of the Bardo museum. | |
| The Tunisian government promised a security crackdown. But last week Rezgui turned up on a beach with an assault rifle and killed 38 more foreign visitors, mostly British. Security forces have said the museum and beach attacks were probably planned at the same Libyan training camp. | The Tunisian government promised a security crackdown. But last week Rezgui turned up on a beach with an assault rifle and killed 38 more foreign visitors, mostly British. Security forces have said the museum and beach attacks were probably planned at the same Libyan training camp. |
| Together they served as a bloody announcement that, as had long been feared, the tide of fighters had started flowing both ways. All three gunmen who struck this year tried to ensure no Tunisians were among their dead, but their main target was their own nation, analysts say. | Together they served as a bloody announcement that, as had long been feared, the tide of fighters had started flowing both ways. All three gunmen who struck this year tried to ensure no Tunisians were among their dead, but their main target was their own nation, analysts say. |
| The attacks took careful aim at the weak underbelly of Tunisia’s fragile economy, the billion-dollar tourism industry. The political assassinations two years earlier had threatened the new democracy taking root after the autocratic president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was toppled in 2011. | The attacks took careful aim at the weak underbelly of Tunisia’s fragile economy, the billion-dollar tourism industry. The political assassinations two years earlier had threatened the new democracy taking root after the autocratic president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was toppled in 2011. |
| Together they pose a potentially existential challenge for a country that should be a source of inspiration, the nation that set the Arab spring in motion and the only one that has managed to shepherd its revolution into a peaceful, functioning democracy. | |
| “The idea that these people are attacking us [westerners] for our values is mistaken. They are trying to get a foothold in their own country,” said Michael Willis, a fellow at Oxford University who specialises in the region. | “The idea that these people are attacking us [westerners] for our values is mistaken. They are trying to get a foothold in their own country,” said Michael Willis, a fellow at Oxford University who specialises in the region. |
| “If you destroy tourism, you help destroy the economy which is already very shaky, and then you have a destabilised country where its potentially easy for Islamic State and others to move in as you have in Libya. I don’t think that will happen, Tunisia is too small, strong and reasonably well-organised, but it will create problems.” | “If you destroy tourism, you help destroy the economy which is already very shaky, and then you have a destabilised country where its potentially easy for Islamic State and others to move in as you have in Libya. I don’t think that will happen, Tunisia is too small, strong and reasonably well-organised, but it will create problems.” |
| It was the introduction of democracy and freedoms of movement and expression that made it possible for radicals to organise at home and then travel abroad from 2011, as Islamists were released from prisons where they had been tortured. | It was the introduction of democracy and freedoms of movement and expression that made it possible for radicals to organise at home and then travel abroad from 2011, as Islamists were released from prisons where they had been tortured. |
| The climate was so permissive that a jihadi who made a name for himself fighting beside Osama bin Laden was allowed not only to build his own movement, ostensibly just for preaching and charitable outreach, but also to put on its first national conference in Kairouan in 2012. | The climate was so permissive that a jihadi who made a name for himself fighting beside Osama bin Laden was allowed not only to build his own movement, ostensibly just for preaching and charitable outreach, but also to put on its first national conference in Kairouan in 2012. |
| The Sousse beach gunman, who studied and was radicalised in the city, may have been in the audience as followers of the ultra-conservative Ansar al-Sharia listened to Seifallah Ben Hassine’s fierce rhetoric under the shadow of the world’s oldest surviving minaret. | The Sousse beach gunman, who studied and was radicalised in the city, may have been in the audience as followers of the ultra-conservative Ansar al-Sharia listened to Seifallah Ben Hassine’s fierce rhetoric under the shadow of the world’s oldest surviving minaret. |
| Related: Tunisia becomes breeding ground for Islamic State fighters | Related: Tunisia becomes breeding ground for Islamic State fighters |
| The veteran jihadi claimed he was pursuing peaceful means to persuade Tunisians to adopt a more devout way of life. Barely a year later, though, Ansar al-Sharia was banned as a terrorist group at home and in the US after it was implicated in Tunisia’s two political assassinations and other violence, and Ben Hassine fled to Libya to join old al-Qaida comrades. | The veteran jihadi claimed he was pursuing peaceful means to persuade Tunisians to adopt a more devout way of life. Barely a year later, though, Ansar al-Sharia was banned as a terrorist group at home and in the US after it was implicated in Tunisia’s two political assassinations and other violence, and Ben Hassine fled to Libya to join old al-Qaida comrades. |
| Not everyone leaving in the first years after the revolution was as radical, which perhaps helped persuade the security forces to turn a blind eye to the exodus. Many were inspired by politics as well as religion, hopeful that the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, could be toppled as smoothly and easily as their own leader, and eager to be part of history again. | Not everyone leaving in the first years after the revolution was as radical, which perhaps helped persuade the security forces to turn a blind eye to the exodus. Many were inspired by politics as well as religion, hopeful that the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, could be toppled as smoothly and easily as their own leader, and eager to be part of history again. |
| Youssef Bouhelouen, one of several casualties from the sleepy northern town of Menzel Bourguiba, was part of this first wave of departures. He died in the summer of 2013 fighting with the Free Syrian Army near Idlib. No one seems to have a bad word to say about him. | Youssef Bouhelouen, one of several casualties from the sleepy northern town of Menzel Bourguiba, was part of this first wave of departures. He died in the summer of 2013 fighting with the Free Syrian Army near Idlib. No one seems to have a bad word to say about him. |
| “He was very kind and humble,” said Ali, a family friend who did not want to give his full name because security forces are once more monitoring people tangled up with more conservative strands of Islam. “He wanted to help others achieve their revolution.” | |
| The Syrian conflict has since become more vicious, and the groups that young Tunisians join more extreme, but the lure of jihad has not waned for young people in Bouhelouen’s old neighbourhood, known as a gathering point for conservative Salafists. | The Syrian conflict has since become more vicious, and the groups that young Tunisians join more extreme, but the lure of jihad has not waned for young people in Bouhelouen’s old neighbourhood, known as a gathering point for conservative Salafists. |
| “I don’t want my son to die,” said one tired father who hoped that visitors had brought news of a son who had fled to Syria without notice, and visibly flagged when he realised they had not. | “I don’t want my son to die,” said one tired father who hoped that visitors had brought news of a son who had fled to Syria without notice, and visibly flagged when he realised they had not. |
| The attractions of dying in a foreign war may seem opaque to Tunisia’s elite or foreign visitors, but in a country with extremely high youth unemployment, where marriage is dependent on having a job and many young people have almost nothing to do with their days, jihad offers fame, purpose and a dark glamour. | The attractions of dying in a foreign war may seem opaque to Tunisia’s elite or foreign visitors, but in a country with extremely high youth unemployment, where marriage is dependent on having a job and many young people have almost nothing to do with their days, jihad offers fame, purpose and a dark glamour. |
| Tunisia’s government initially seemed to have little interest in stopping them leaving, a stance probably driven more by apathy and disorganisation than any conscious decision to use battlefields nearby as a pressure valve to vent domestic extremism. | Tunisia’s government initially seemed to have little interest in stopping them leaving, a stance probably driven more by apathy and disorganisation than any conscious decision to use battlefields nearby as a pressure valve to vent domestic extremism. |
| “I honestly don’t think the Tunisians were deliberately ignoring the flow of would-be combatants, I think it just took them too long to understand the scope of the problem,” said Moncef Kartas, of the non-profit Small Arms Survey. | “I honestly don’t think the Tunisians were deliberately ignoring the flow of would-be combatants, I think it just took them too long to understand the scope of the problem,” said Moncef Kartas, of the non-profit Small Arms Survey. |
| As the scale of the exodus became clear, the government put controls on young men wanting to fly out of the country. But as neighbouring Libya descended into chaos and Islamic State began operating there, those restrictions became virtually meaningless. | As the scale of the exodus became clear, the government put controls on young men wanting to fly out of the country. But as neighbouring Libya descended into chaos and Islamic State began operating there, those restrictions became virtually meaningless. |
| The border between the two countries has been porous for decades, with smuggling routes established half a century ago by undocumented workers seeking jobs in Libya’s oil industry now offering easy paths out and home again for boys and men with an appetite for jihad. | The border between the two countries has been porous for decades, with smuggling routes established half a century ago by undocumented workers seeking jobs in Libya’s oil industry now offering easy paths out and home again for boys and men with an appetite for jihad. |
| That leaves the government with little choice but to try to tackle them at home, but it will be a long, difficult task, even if foreign allies stump up financial and technical help. | That leaves the government with little choice but to try to tackle them at home, but it will be a long, difficult task, even if foreign allies stump up financial and technical help. |
| Security officials are ill-prepared to catch would-be attackers, and a police force that for decades was dedicated to propping up the old regime is still struggling to adjust to its role as protector of the people. | Security officials are ill-prepared to catch would-be attackers, and a police force that for decades was dedicated to propping up the old regime is still struggling to adjust to its role as protector of the people. |
| Ministers will struggle to conjure up the level of economic growth that might make leaving less attractive, and after the fierce repression of the Ben Ali years conservative religious leaders have few institutions that would help them reach out to vulnerable young men and women. | Ministers will struggle to conjure up the level of economic growth that might make leaving less attractive, and after the fierce repression of the Ben Ali years conservative religious leaders have few institutions that would help them reach out to vulnerable young men and women. |
| Related: Tunisia: murder of holidaymakers in Sousse could kill tourism and hope | Related: Tunisia: murder of holidaymakers in Sousse could kill tourism and hope |
| The country’s parliamentary Islamists are already worried about much-touted plans to close 80 mosques that have radical preachers, which risks setting the government against religion when the two should be allies in combating extremism, said Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the Ennahda party. | The country’s parliamentary Islamists are already worried about much-touted plans to close 80 mosques that have radical preachers, which risks setting the government against religion when the two should be allies in combating extremism, said Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the Ennahda party. |
| “Because this phenomenon is emerging from a religious background, so we have to resist it with the same weapons,” Ghannouchi said. “They could change the imam if he is extreme, but keep the mosque open so that the other worshippers don’t feel the state is against them.” | |
| Most of the radicalisation takes place outside mosques anyway, experts believe – online, in groups of friends or in underground congregations that meet in private homes, one of which Rezgui is believed to have attended in Kairouan. | Most of the radicalisation takes place outside mosques anyway, experts believe – online, in groups of friends or in underground congregations that meet in private homes, one of which Rezgui is believed to have attended in Kairouan. |
| The government’s biggest challenge, perhaps, is that although the numbers of departures have been high, they are still a tiny portion of the country’s population of 11 million and spotting who will go next is almost impossible even for those closest to them. | |
| “You can live in the same house as your brother, and he will leave one day for Syria without you ever having suspected,” said Salah Shmissi, a day labourer whose neighbour Majdi Hassan was another frontline recruit from Menzel Bourguiba. “I wish Syria was wiped off the face of the earth.” | “You can live in the same house as your brother, and he will leave one day for Syria without you ever having suspected,” said Salah Shmissi, a day labourer whose neighbour Majdi Hassan was another frontline recruit from Menzel Bourguiba. “I wish Syria was wiped off the face of the earth.” |
| Eileen Byrne contributed research | Eileen Byrne contributed research |
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