Tunisians condemn return of terrorism to Algeria

12/12/2007

Following Tuesday's bloody attacks in neighbouring Algeria, Tunisians hope the violence will not spread to their country.

By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 12/12/07

[Getty Images] Tuesday's attack on the offices of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Algiers added an international dimension to the carnage. Tunisians hope the violence will not cross the border into their country.

Tunisians have united in condemning the fatal terrorist operations that took place Tuesday morning (December 11th) in the Algerian capital, describing the acts as "barbaric".

In a statement to Magharebia, Samir Abdallah, member of the Chamber of Councillors said, "One cannot but condemn this cowardly act. I think all Tunisian elites will join me in condemning it because it has nothing to do with humanity; and has nothing to do with the most sublime religious values that all divine religions preach; which are the values of tolerance and solidarity."

He added, "Today, we have to stand by our Algerian brothers in order to form a unified front against the remnants of extremism and terrorism."

Bouchra Belhaj Hamida, lawyer and executive of the Democratic Women's Association of Tunisia, said she was greatly shocked when she heard the news. "This is a horrible, brutal act, and I hold the national reconciliation project – which has proven its failure today – responsible," she said. Hamida asked, "How can a person reconcile with someone who doesn't agree on anything with him? How can it be done with those extremists and terrorists, who are one hundred percent criminals and killers?"

Many Tunisians gathered around televisions in coffee shops to follow up on the events. Pensioner Bechir Mrabet said, "I felt really shocked. We thought that stability has started to prevail in Algerian life, but, unfortunately, as you can see, the battle has been taken from the mountains to cities and in methods that are similar to al-Qaeda's methods. They are killing innocent people in the name of religion."

A young man named Ali continued, saying: "I think the violence will not stop anytime soon. There are several local problems feeding it, such as unemployment and need.

This is a decidedly 'Maghreb' case."

Abdel Majid Sahraoui, assistant Secretary-General of the Arab Maghreb Unions Association, also condemned the attacks, and called on union members to combine their efforts to confront the "plague of terrorism and extremism that uses religion as a cover".

Sahraoui called on all people of the Maghreb to transcend their differences. "Any hesitation can send a wrong message from which extremists may assume the Maghreb ranks can be divided and the differences manipulated... to spread their destructive ideology," he said.

News of the terrorist operations made headlines at all levels of Tunisian media. Tunisian television reported a letter of condolences sent by President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in the name of the people and the government of Tunisia.

Najet Mraihi was shocked by the news. She said, "I can't move anymore! Who can guarantee we will not see a similar scene in our country? God forbid." Mraihi said terrorists "are like bats plotting their conspiracies in the dark and targeting unarmed innocent people."

She added, "They tried the same thing with us last year at the same time, but they were discovered. I hope they will be all exposed wherever they are."

Last December, the city of Solimane witnessed an armed confrontation between extremists and the Tunisian army that left 12 terrorists dead. Most had come from Algeria for the purpose of carrying out terrorist operations against several Tunisian sites, including the embassies of Great Britain and the United States.