Extra security forces were deployed Thursday at Tunis airport after radical Islamist websites called for a big turnout to welcome a Salafist sheikh evicted from Egypt for falsifying travel papers for jihadists.
Police manned checkpoints around the airport to keep Salafists away from the building, an AFP photographer reported, while armed police with dogs patrolled the arrivals hall.
No incidents were reported by late morning, except the arrest of a bearded man.
Imed ben Salah, also known as Abou Abdallah Ettounsi, was arrested on March 21 and ordered out of Egypt, according to local press reports, for organizing the falsification of documents to help jihadists travel to combat zones.
His flight to Tunis was due to arrive early on Thursday afternoon.
Since its January 2011 revolution, Tunisia has witnessed a proliferation of jihadist groups, which have been blamed for a wave of deadly attacks, notably on the U.S. embassy in Tunis last September that left four of the assailants dead.
Tunisia’s government has warned of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda’s North African franchise infiltrating the country’s borders and trafficking weapons, notably to northern Mali.
Also Read: ‘Quarantine her!’ Top Tunisian Islamist says topless girl needs stoning
Tunisia’s Salafists fail to stop ‘Harlem shake’ at school
The judiciary opened an investigation in mid-March into a network recruiting and sending Tunisians to fight Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces alongside Islamist insurgents.
-
Salafists say Hamas made arrests for rocket attacks
The Palestinian movement Hamas which rules Gaza has arrested two hardline Islamists in connection with rocket attacks on Israel, sources close to a ... Middle East -
Tunisia’s women caught between burqa and bikini
The two years since the revolution that toppled Tunisia’s dictatorship have seen some women enjoying the freedom to dress in traditional Islamic ... Fashion and beauty -
Islamist leader threatens to oust Tunisian prime minister
The fugitive leader of a radical Islamist group threatened on Wednesday to overthrow Tunisia’s government, one day after the prime minister ... Africa