Hizb al-Tahrir defies government ban to hold Tunisia protest

Tunisian Interior Ministry has banned public protests outside the National Constituent Assembly Supporters of the Tunisian political party Hizb al-Tahrir  have disregarded an order from the Interior Ministry banning demonstrations in front of the National Constituent Assembly.On Friday evening, members of the group gathered at Bardo Square in front of the Assembly, to reject the government's draft constitution and demand the application of Sharia law.
Elsewhere, a group of men described by witnesses as "followers of the Salafist movement," interrupted Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque of Denden in the southern suburbs of the capital Tunis.
Worshippers were told to leave the building when intruders entered the mosque and interrupted the sermon being delivered by Imam Ghofran Hussaini. According to the Imam and the mosque’s muezzin Ismail Shili, the attendees were subjected to physical aggression, and three-quarters of those present were forced to leave the mosque. The remaining number of worshippers were lead into prayers "by the Salafists," they said.
The Iman confirmed that the intruders had previously threatened to take control of the mosque.
The Tunisian Ministry of Religious Affairs is responsible for the selection and appointment of Imams to mosques across the country, but since the revolution, some people have arbitrarily taken over a few mosques without ministerial sanction, explained Najet Hammami, press secretary at the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Hussaini believes that Friday's incident was connected to a previous bout of unrest in the nearby neighbourhood of Douar Hicher, where security agents clashed with members of the Salafist movement.
Observers are concerned about the escalating religious extremism in Tunisia, especially after Tunisian Salafist news has made headlines in French national newspapers over the last few months.
Meanwhile, the head of the Independent Higher Authority for Elections (IHAE), Kamel Jendoubi, has attacked the Troika government in Tunisia, accusing it of trying to distort the body's achievements in securing the first "free and fair democratic elections" in the country's history.
Jendoubi said that the election of the National Constituent Assembly took place without any major disruptions, compared to elections in other countries which have gone through a similar democratic transition.
He accused Tunisia's ruling coalition of leaking the informal observations of the Department of Accounting, with the aim of achieving political gains and distorting the Authority's achievements.