Tunisia warns its returning extremists

Premier says militants will be arrested and charged after Tunisian Anis Amri’s recent attack in Berlin spurs fears about radicals

TUNIS // Tunisian prime minister Youssef Chahed on Thursday said all extremists returning from foreign battlefields would be arrested and judged according to the country’s counterterrorism law.

“The Tunisian state has not signed any deal on the return of terrorists and the government’s position on the matter is clear: it does not support their return from areas of tension,” Mr Chahed said on state television.

“Those who do return will be immediately arrested on their arrival to Tunisian territory and will be judged. And the counterterrorism law will be applied against them.”

Concern about the return of extremist militants has risen since Tunisian Anis Amri, 24, was identified as the attacker who killed 11 people with a hijacked lorry at a Berlin Christmas market last week and murdered the driver. Mr Chahed said Tunisia “has lists of all [Tunisian] terrorists who are in areas of tension and who have been part of terrorist organisations. We know each and every one of them and have all the data on them”. His comments came after a ministerial meeting to decide on an action plan to tackle the issue did not take place on Thursday as planned.

Last week, interior minister Hedi Majdoub told parliament that 800 extremist militants had returned from the front lines, stressing however that the authorities had them on their radar. Despite such assurances, Tunisians rallied outside parliament last weekend to protest against allowing extremist fighters back into the country.

Politicians and parties have expressed similar concerns, criticising the authorities’ inaction.

The national union of internal security forces has urged the government to strip Tunisian extremist militants of citizenship.

The president, Beji Caid Essebsi, said this month that Tunisia was “taking all the neces- sary measures” to ensure that extremist fighters returning from Syria and Iraq were “neutralised”. But, citing the constitution, he said the authorities could not prevent Tunisians from returning to their country.

Since the uprising in 2011, Tunisia has faced repeated extremist attacks that killed more than 100 soldiers and policemen, about 20 civilians and 59 foreign tourists.