Tunisia fights off extremist influx

Tunisian president said his country had been inundated with fighters and preachers from the Middle East who regarded the North African state as ripe for revolt. "Tunisia intensified security along its borders and was stopping clerics deemed supporters of Al-Qaeda," World Tribune quoted Munsif Al-Marzouqi as saying. "We are not opposed to Tunisian preachers, but to those who come from elsewhere," Marzouqi adding, "We have enough preachers to win the battle against extremism." Officials said the Salafist movement in Tunisia was encouraging foreign extremists to incite violence. They said the Salafists were in contact with supporters in the Persian Gulf states, believed to play a major role in financing the movement. In June 2013, Tunisia blocked the entry of eight clerics from Saudi Arabia. Officials said the Saudis had been invited to deliver sermons throughout Tunisia amid heightened tension between the government and the extremists. "The (Interior) Ministry has banned the entry of eight people who had come from the Persian Gulf  states to carry out terrorist activities," an Interior Ministry statement said. Officials said the ruling Ennahda movement has also been warned to register all foreign preachers with the Interior Ministry. "But Ennahda was lobbying to expand the influence of foreign extremists with ties to such countries as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.