TUNISIAN ISLAMISTS CONCERNED BY EXTREMISM, SEEK

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 001548

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG (HARRIS AND HOPKINS),NEA/PI AND INR
NSC (RAMCHAND)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/02/2017
TAGS: PHUM KDEM PGOV PREL PTER TS
SUBJECT: TUNISIAN ISLAMISTS CONCERNED BY EXTREMISM, SEEK
USG SUPPORT

REF: A. TUNIS 1470

B. TUNIS 1329

C. TUNIS 1058

Classified By: Ambassador Robert F. Godec for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) During a November 19 meeting with PolOffs, former
an-Nahdha leader Ziad Daoulatli said that the GOT has created
a climate of fear that discourages Tunisians from political
participation. The lack of freedom of expression and
association, said Daoulatli, is increasingly driving
Tunisians to violence and extremism, and the banned an-Nahdha
party is unable to combat this trend. Therefore, Daoulatli
said he and other former an-Nahdha leaders had joined other
independent civil society activists, including leftists and
communists, to press for greater political liberty in
Tunisia. Daoulatli expressed his appreciation for USG
efforts to do the same and asked that the Embassy do more to
support civil society. End Summary.


2. (C) Daoulatli, who was a senior an-Nahdha leader until his
arrest in 1991, was pardoned by President Ben Ali in 2004.
The an-Nahdha ("Renaissance") party is banned in Tunisia,
where parties based on religion are unconstitutional. Today,
many former party leaders live in exile, a handful remain in
jail and others have been pardoned like Daoulatli. Since his
release, Daoulatli says he enjoys freedom of movement within
Tunisia, but has been unable to travel abroad as the GOT has
been preventing him from submitting a passport application.
During the meeting, which was arranged by Radwan Masmoudi,
the Tunisian head of the US-based Center for Islam and
Democracy, Daoulatli was joined by self-defined
Islamic-leftist Slaheddine Jourchi.

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A CLIMATE OF FEAR...
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3. (C) Daoulatli opened the meeting by explaining that the
GOT is trying to frighten Tunisians away from participating
in public life. This has been successful, because people
believe that the GOT is against any and all opposition and
will punish anyone who disagrees. Daoulatli stressed that
the success of this effort is clearly demonstrated by
Tunisians unwillingness to join even "loyal" opposition
parties. These parties, which enjoy government subsidies and
GOT recognition, cannot gather more than 30 people at their
meetings, said Daoulatli. At the same time, Daoulatli added,
the GOT seeks to co-opt those groups with popular support,
like the Green Party, journalists' union and bar association,
by creating parallel structures that are loyal to the
government. He said the GOT must actively try to encourage
political participation in order to discourage citizens from
turning to violence. Commenting on recent rumors that the
GOT might create a religious party, Daoulatli said former
an-Nahdha leaders would support this move because it would
represent a change in GOT thinking. Specifically, such a
step would indicate the government had moved beyond its
current security mind set to take actual politics into
consideration.

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CREATES INSTABILITY
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4. (C) The security mind set said Daoulatli, leads the GOT to
imprison people in an attempt to remove any desire to oppose
the government. Even after individuals are released, the GOT
continues to "make a model" out of former prisoners by
denying them the ability to reintegrate into Tunisian life,
e.g. by withholding national identification cards and
passports. Jourchi added that many former an-Nahdha leaders
are from lower-middle class families, which are unaware of
and therefore unable to defend their rights as citizens. He
asked that the USG try to encourage prisoner reintegration in
society. PolOff asked if President Ben Ali's recent call
(Ref A) to improve prisoner reintegration would have a
positive impact on the situation. Daoulatli called the
announcement "propaganda" and said that no specific steps had
been announced yet. What Tunisia really needs, he added, is
a general amnesty.


5. (C) The inability of former prisoners to reintegrate,
Daoulatli said, leads them to seek revenge. Such individuals

are increasingly attracted to the ideologies of Usama Bin
Laden and Ayman Zawahiri. Daoulatli lamented that Bin Laden
claims to be the liberator of all Arabs from despotic
regimes. He cited the example of a former moderate an-Nahdha
leader whose inability to actively participate in society
drove his son to join al-Qaeda in Algeria, where he was
recently captured. Daoulatli noted that the deteriorating
economic situation, specifically corruption, in Tunisia today
is also contributing to instability and extremism.

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CIVIL SOCIETY UNITES
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6. (C) Daoulatli added that there must be a successful
dialogue between moderate leftists, secularists and Islamists
to combat extremism and promote freedom. He himself joined
the Movement of 18 October, a disparate group of opposition
political leaders and activists promoting freedom of
expression, association, and amnesty for political prisoners
(Ref C). Daoulatli said that he, and other former an-Nahdha
members in the group, had signed two 18 October Committee
statements: one on women's rights and another on freedom of
conscience. The group plans to issue two others on the
relationship between religion and state and the use of
corporal punishment. Jourchi opined that an-Nahdha today is
weak but popular. However, if political space in Tunisia
were to expand, an-Nahdha could be very popular in four to
five years. Significant popularity would likely mean the
group would encompass both liberal and radical members,
although the leadership is moderate.

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USG SUPPORT HELPS
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7. (C) Jourchi asked that such meetings between former
an-Nahdha members and the USG continue, so that both sides
would understand the other's goals. He said he was
encouraged that the US Embassy and the Ambassador were
accelerating US support for Tunisian civil society, noting
the Ambassador's recent visit to the PDP hunger strikers (Ref
C). Daoulatli added that Tunisian citizens dislike two
things: 1) US policies in the Middle East, and 2) Ben Ali's
dictatorship. The best way for the USG to combat popular
dislike of regional policies, said Daoulatli, is to publicly
support democracy in Tunisia.


8. (C) Specifically, Daoulatli asked PolOffs to invite former
an-Nahdha leaders to Embassy events, host more discussions of
domestic issues, engage civil society activists under GOT
pressure (like the PDP),create ties between US and Tunisian
NGOs, and press the GOT to lift administrative limitations on
former prisoners. Such steps would clearly demonstrate USG
commitment to democracy in Tunisia. Former an-Nahdha leaders
like himself, said Daoulatli, want to open a dialogue with
the USG.

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COMMENT
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9. (C) With an-Nahdha banned and its former leaders spread
throughout Tunisia and abroad, it is unclear if the group
truly seeks to participate in a secular democracy, if one
could be established in Tunisia. This lack of clarity means
that Tunisian popular support is similarly difficult to
judge. However, it is easy to support Daoulatli and
Jourchi's request that the USG continue to promote political
reform and freedom in Tunisia, as they are among our own
goals here.
GODEC