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TUNIS — The government on Friday blamed a violent Islamist extremist cell linked to Al Qaeda for the killing of a top Tunisian political opposition leader and identified the chief suspect, a Parisian-born jihadist, as the person who had killed an opposition figure in February, saying he used the same automatic pistol in both assassinations.
TUNIS — The government on Friday blamed an Islamist extremist cell linked to Al Qaeda for the killing of a leader of the political opposition and identified the chief suspect as the person who also killed an opposition figure in February, saying he used the same automatic pistol in both assassinations.
The assertions, made by Interior Minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou, came as outrage simmered over the killing of the opposition leader, Mohamed Brahmi, a liberal politician, outside his home on Thursday, witnessed by his wife and children. The public prosecutor’s office said an autopsy showed that Mr. Brahmi, 58, had been hit with 14 bullets from a 9-millimeter weapon, six in his upper body and the others in his left leg.
The assertions, made by Interior Minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou, came as outrage simmered over the killing of the opposition leader, Mohamed Brahmi, a liberal politician, outside his home on Thursday, witnessed by his wife and children. The public prosecutor’s office said an autopsy showed that Mr. Brahmi, 58, had been hit with 14 bullets from a 9-millimeter weapon, six in his upper body and the others in his left leg.
The assassination of Mr. Brahmi, an outspoken critic of Ennahda, the moderate Islamist party in power, has plunged Tunisia into a new political crisis and revealed a deepening split between Tunisians who want a pluralistic democracy and hard-line Islamists who reject such a system.
Already criticized for failing to find those responsible for the February killing of another opposition figure, Chokri Belaid, the government was under pressure to produce some answers.
Many Ennahda opponents say the party has created an atmosphere of tolerance for Islamist extremists that has given them license to carry out assassinations and intimidation of political figures who disagree with them. Crowds of anti-Ennahda demonstrators protested late Thursday and into early Friday in Tunis, the capital, and other cities, and the police used tear gas to disperse some of the gatherings.
Mr. Ben Jeddou told reporters at a news conference that the gunman in both assassinations was Boubakr Hakim, a Salafist and a weapons smuggler who was born in France.
The nation’s leading trade union protested the assassination on Friday by calling a general strike. Many banks and shops were closed and the national airline, Tunisair, canceled all flights.
“The same 9-millimeter automatic weapon that killed Belaid also killed Brahmi,” Mr. Ben Jeddou said. In each attack, the gunman also rode a motorcycle, he said.
Worried about a polarization in Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring movement more than two years ago, the government declared a national day of mourning on Friday and promised to find and prosecute those responsible for the deaths of Mr. Brahmi and the other opposition figure, Chokri Belaid, assassinated outside his home five months ago.
Tunisian officials said four of Mr. Hakim’s associates, members of what they called a 14-person jihadist cell linked to Al Qaeda, had already been detained. But Mr. Hakim, 29, is on the run, the officials said. In the days before Thursday’s assassination they raided his aunt’s home, finding a cache of weapons and ammunition, but Mr. Hakim escaped.
Mr. Ben Jeddou told reporters at a news conference that the gunman in both assassinations was Boubakr Hakim, a jihadist and weapons smuggler who was born in France and had already been implicated in Mr. Belaid’s death. The interior minister based the assertion partly on ballistics tests on the bullets recovered from the bodies of Mr. Brahmi and Mr. Belaid, showing that they originated from one weapon.
The government gave few details about Mr. Hakim except that he was born in Paris in August 1983, and worked abroad. His most recent residence has been Douar Hichar, a working-class neighborhood of Tunis where Islamists have a strong following.
“The same 9-millimeter automatic weapon that killed Belaid also killed Brahmi,” Mr. Ben Jeddou said.
He is also wanted for gun smuggling and was part of a ring that had been spiriting weapons into the Tunis suburbs from Libya, the authorities said. Mr. Ben Jeddou, a former judge and an independent politician, said he felt the Tunisian smugglers were connected to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, a Qaeda affiliate that was recently involved in establishing guerrilla training camps and laying mines in a mountainous area near the border with Algeria.
Tunisian officials said four of Mr. Hakim’s associates, members of what they called a 14-person jihadist cell linked to Al Qaeda, had already been detained. But Mr. Hakim, who is almost 30, is on the run, the officials said. The police were close to apprehending him in the days before Thursday’s assassination and raided his aunt’s home, finding a cache of weapons and ammunition, but Mr. Hakim escaped.
Some suspects detained in Mr. Belaid’s assassination in February were members of Ansar al-Sharia, a Salafist group in Tunisia also known to have links with Al Qaeda. The group was also behind an attack on the United States Embassy in Tunis in September, and its leader, Abu Ayad, had trained and fought with Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan.
The government gave few details on Mr. Hakim except that he had been born in Paris in August 1983, and worked abroad. He is from Douar Hichar, a working-class neighborhood where Islamists have a strong following, in the Manouba district of Tunis.
American telephone intercepts have shown that Abu Ayad was in contact with Al Qaeda at the time of the embassy assault in Tunis, Tunisian officials have said.
He was already wanted for gun smuggling, and was part of a ring that had been spiriting weapons from Libya into the Tunis suburbs. Since the downfall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya in 2011 and the collapse of his regime, which had enormous storehouses of arms, thousands of Libyan weapons have flooded into neighboring regions, many into the hands of al Qaeda and other militant groups.
The government’s revelations about the suspects may assuage some anger among opposition groups who have accused the government, and specifically Ennahda, the moderate Islamist party that leads the governing coalition, of being too lenient in its treatment of Islamists and allowing the killings to occur.
Mr. Ben Jeddou, the interior minister, who is a former judge and an independent politician, said the Tunisian smugglers were in his view connected to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, a Qaeda affiliate active in North Africa. The same group was involved in establishing guerrilla training camps and laying mines in a mountainous area near Tunisia’s border with Algeria in recent months, he said.
Ennahda has condemned the killings and accused those behind them of trying to derail the transition to democracy.
Some of the suspects detained in connection with the February assassination of Mr. Belaid were members of Ansar al-Sharia, a Salafist group in Tunisia also known to have links with al Qaeda. The group was behind an attack on the United States Embassy in Tunis in September, and its leader Abu Ayad, had trained and fought with Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan. American telephone intercepts have shown that Abu Ayad was in contact with al Qaeda at the time of the Tunis embassy assault, Tunisian officials have said.
Opposition demonstrators gathered sporadically on Friday on the main Habib Bourguiba thoroughfare here, shouting slogans but flagging rapidly in the blistering heat. Protesters have also begun to camp out in front of the National Constituent Assembly building.
The government’s revelations about the suspects may assuage some anger among opposition groups who have accused Ennahda of being soft on Islamists and allowing the killings to occur.
Mr. Ben Jeddou, who assumed the Interior Ministry post in a cabinet reshuffle after Mr. Belaid’s assassination, rejected the opposition’s accusations of incompetence or lack of will.
Demonstrators briefly clashed with police late Thursday night, dispersing quickly when police fired rounds of tear gas. On Friday there were only sporadic gatherings of demonstrators on the main Habib Bourgiba thoroughfare in Tunis. A few dozen people would gather to shout slogans but rapidly ran out of energy in the blistering heat.
“If we inherited anything from the former regime, we inherited specialized security forces and people with enough expertise,” he said.
Mr. Ben Jeddou, who assumed the Interior Ministry post in a cabinet reshuffle after Mr. Belaid’s assassination, rejected accusations that the government had shown incompetence or lack of will in solving that case. “If we inherited anything from the former regime, we inherited specialized security forces and people with enough expertise,” he said.
Besides seeking the killers and smugglers, his ministry has moved against groups recruiting men to fight in Syria, blocking 4,500 from joining. Government forces have also broken up training camps on the Tunisia border, Mr. Ben Jeddou said.
He has given the investigation a high priority since taking office, he said. Besides seeking the killers and smugglers, his ministry has moved against groups recruiting men to fight in Syria, blocking 4,500 from joining. Government forces also have broken up training camps on the Tunisia border, Mr. Ben Jeddou said.
Ennahda supporters said they were confident the government would survive.
Despite evidence emerging that extremist Islamists were behind the assassinations, Ennahda supporters showed a confidence in the government’s durability and dismissed any possibility that it could be forced from office.
“People on the left accuse us of being with the jihadists, and the Salafists accuse us of being a party that is not connected to Islam,” said Munir Argoubi, a teacher and an Ennahda activist. “That makes us happy. It means we are in the middle, where we want to be.”
“People on the left accuse us of being with the jihadists, and the Salafists accuse us of being a party that is not connected to Islam,” said Munir Argoubi, 43, a teacher and Ennahda activist from the working-class district of Ettadhamen in Tunis. “That makes us happy. It means we are in the middle, where we want to be.”
He and other Ennahda supporters predicted their party would gain a larger share of the vote next time. “This middle ground is very big,” he said.
He conceded that many Tunisians had expressed disappointment with the political transition since the January 2011 revolution that deposed the autocratic president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, and were impatient for new elections. But Mr. Arboubi and other Ennahda supporters predicted their party would gain a larger share of the vote next time. “This middle ground is very big,” he said.
In every neighborhood in Tunis, and throughout the country, are self-organized groups of youths and activists, some Ennahda members and others part of the so-called League for the Protection of the Revolution. Critics complain they are local militias used by Ennahda to intimidate opponents.
In every neighborhood in Tunis, and throughout the country, there are self-organized groups of youths and activists, some formally members of Ennahda and some part of the so-called League for the Protection of the Revolution. Critics complain they are local militias used by Ennahda to intimidate opponents.
A few dozen members of these groups attended a planned demonstration in support of Ennahda in downtown Tunis after Friday prayers but they spent most of the time arguing among themselves. “We are here to protect the revolution, and its gains,” said one demonstrator, Faouzi Majdoub, a middle-aged man who said he worked in insurance. “We want the government to stay and hold elections.”
A few dozen members of these groups attented a planned demonstration in downtown Tunis in support of Ennahda after Friday prayers, but they did not seem to care about protesting and spent most of the time arguing among themselves. “We are here to protect the revolution, and its gains,” said one demonstrator, Faouzi Majdoub, a middle-aged man who worked in the insurance business. “We want the government to stay and hold elections,” he said.
Most of the government’s supporters belittled the protests.
Most of the government’s supporters appeared to have avoided any anti-Ennahda protests by the opposition on Friday.
“They will bury Brahmi and go home,” Imed Dghij, leader of a self-organized group of revolutionaries, said of the opposition groups. “They will not be able to do anything.”
“They will bury Brahmi and go home,” said Imed Dghij, leader of a self-organized group of revolutionaries in the distict of Kram in Tunis. “They will not be able to do anything,” he said of the opposition groups.
The real threat, he said, is from members of the former government who wanted to regain power and reverse the revolution. He had up to 70 men ready to defend his neighborhood, he said. “You have to understand, Tunisia is run by the neighborhoods, and we run the neighborhoods.”
Sitting in his office, seized from the former regime’s party during the revolution, behind a large clenched fist stenciled on the wall, he said the real threat lurked with former regime members who wanted to regain power and reverse the revolution. He had up to 70 men in his neighborhood ready to defend it, he said. “You have to understand, Tunisia is run by the neighborhoods, and we run the neighborhoods.”
Rick
Gladstone contributed reporting from New York.
Carlotta Gall reported from Tunis, and Rick Gladstone from New York.
