Suleiman’s family was not quite certain how he died last February but an aching suspicion kept returning as they watched the news.
“On TV we saw graphic photos of young men who were misled to fight on the pretext of Jihad,” said Suleiman’s father Mohammad. “Then we received the news of his death.”
Mohammad believes his son was persuaded by a mediator from Istanbul who recruited young Tunisian men like his son Suleiman, to train for battlefields in Syria.
Suleiman’s family was not quite certain how he died last February but an aching suspicion kept returning as they watched the news.
“On TV we saw graphic photos of young men who were misled to fight on the pretext of Jihad,” said Suleiman’s father Mohammad. “Then we received the news of his death.”
Mohammad believes his son was persuaded by a mediator from Istanbul who recruited young Tunisian men like his son Suleiman, to train for battlefields in Syria.
“At the end of the day, they did what they wanted,” said Mohammad. “They dragged my son into the abyss of war.”
Fighting abroad
The Tunisian Ministry of Interior said that somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 Tunisians travelled to Syria—2,8oo of whom were killed, 800 were imprisoned and hundreds are still missing.
Minister of Interior Lutfi Ben Jeddo announced in a media conference at the end of July 2013 that the security forces had prevented more than 4,500 Tunisian young men from travelling to Syria and denied 25 religious clerics entry to Tunisia.
Ben Jeddo also announced the formation of a new cell to track terrorist groups who are believed to be recruiting Tunisian youth to fight in Syria.
Not much could be gathered about these groups or how they are able to enter Syria yet they have been able to remain hidden in Tunisia and establish secret cells.
Government plans to stop would be jihadists
Tunisian authorities say they are considering plans to prevent jihadists from returning to Tunisia and tighten its control over the websites recruiting them.
However, the political views over this issue differed. Some called on enacting a ‘repentance law’ and others demanded the prosecution of those who are proved to be involved.
Abduljabbar Madouri, a leader in the People’s Front, which is a political coalition that includes leftist and national parties, said the number of those fighting in extremist groups in Syria has not verified.
Nevertheless he warned of the danger posed by a ‘Jihadist ideology’ which can be witnessed among a range of Tunisians from different age groups.
Returning as dangerous men
Madouri added that the flow of Tunisian fighters who received training and fighting skills heightened concerns over their return.
Madouri said these groups were alien to the Tunisian environment in terms of ideology and culture and claimed that Ennahda overlooked the networks, which recruit Tunisian young men.
Former Tunisian Prime Minister, Ali Arid, a leader in the Ennahda Movement, refuted these accusations and insisted: “The authorities cannot prevent citizens from travelling.”
Arid said in a TV statement that many young Tunisian men don’t always leave tracks that are easy to follow. “Some Tunisians travel to other countries such as Libya and Turkey for work or as tourists and then go to Syria. We have no right to prevent them from travelling.”
Nevertheless, Arid said, authorities did step in and prevent travel if information from families pointed to “an uncalculated adventure.”
Tempting option for frustrated youth
Wajdi, a young sandwich seller has a trolley near a café in Dandan, west of Tunis, and regularly socializes with young men affiliated with groups that recruit young men for jihad.
“I was considering joining these armed groups and fighting in Syria,” said the school dropout. “But circumstances prevented me from doing so.”
Waijdi said that recruitment was done secretly and the mediator or the person who communicates with these groups remained unidentified.
“I opted to stay in Tunisia and provide for my family,” he said.
