Imams accuse Ennahda of helping Salafis

The union of Tunisian imams on Friday accused the ruling Ennahda party of failing to stop Salafi violence and called for Minister of Religious Affairs Noureddine Khademi to resign. The imams accuse the government of allowing a process of religious radicalization throughout the country, spearheaded by violent Salafi attacks including sometimes fatal arson and firebombing attacks on mosques, hotels and bars that sell liquor, art galleries and union offices. The imams are the latest addition in a long series of protests by artists, representatives of the Constituent Assembly, unions and civil society against this rising tide of fundamentalist violence, which they say is part of a government plan to create a theocracy in Tunisia. Among the imam's complaints, is the fact that at least 100 of the country's 6,000 mosques have become de facto Salafi lairs that are off-limits to police, where they hide wanted criminals and stockpile weapons such as swords, machetes, and Molotovs. A case in point is Nasreddine Aloui, the new imam of the al-Nour mosque in the town of Douar Hicher, who during a television talk show on Thursday night called on Tunisian youths to prepare to give their lives in the fight against Ennahda. His predecessor, Khaled Karaoui, died on Thursday after sustaining injuries during a Salafi attack on two police posts earlier in the week.