Of course pre-Arab Spring Tunisia was staunchly secular, not so much these days.
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — The cradle of the Arab Spring is increasingly looking like the birthplace of jihadists.
Long before Tunisia ousted its dictator and inspired the North African pro-democracy movement, the small, relatively prosperous country had the more dubious distinction of exporting Islamic militants. Now, as the country wrestles with the creation of a new government after the killing of a liberal opposition leader, experts say the flow of fighters is getting worse.
The repressive measures of the old secular dictatorship fueled the anger that produced jihadi movements, but its ruthless security apparatus also kept them largely in check. The much more relaxed approach of the country’s new leaders is allowing extremist groups and their networks to flourish like never before, experts say.
Though no one knows for sure just how many Tunisian fighters have traveled abroad, evidence suggests it remains one of the top exporters of jihadists per capita. Tunisians have turned up on the battlefields of Iraq, Syria, Libya and now Mali. The 32-man militant strike team that seized a gas plant in Algeria and took dozens of foreign workers hostage was more than one-third Tunisian.
Because of its small, well-educated population, there were hopes Tunisia would transition relatively easily to democracy after the ouster of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011. But it is now a battleground pitting secularists and Islamists against one another and in the confusion of creating a new state networks radicalized by the previous regime are flourishing.
Socialism is not the Answer 