海角大神

When police flooded the Tunisian city of Kairouan yesterday to block a rally by hardline Salafi Muslims, a few hundred diehards shifted to a neighborhood mosque, where they locked themselves inside and marched about, crying 鈥淕od is Great!"聽

Even in their defeat, some saw victory.

鈥淭he government won鈥檛 let them have their meeting, so they鈥檙e having it here in the house of God,鈥� said one of the demonstrators, who gave only a聽nom de guerre: 鈥淎bdallah鈥� (Servant of God).聽Many of them had come from other towns and were staying at the mosque. 聽

The聽government聽effort to quash yesterday鈥檚 rally shows new zeal by Tunisia鈥檚聽leaders聽to defy the country鈥檚 increasingly assertive Salafi movement. But smaller gatherings and rioting elsewhere suggest that in the long run, that movement won鈥檛 back down. As security forces clamped down on Kairouan, a medieval city south of Tunis, Salafi demonstrations erupted in the capital, spiraling into clashes between police and locals that left at least one young man dead.聽

From allies to outsiders

Yesterday鈥檚 faceoff reflects the rising stakes in a battle between the government, led by the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, and the Salafi movement, which has burgeoned since Tunisia鈥檚 former dictator was toppled two years ago.

Salafis follow a literalist reading of Islam and want a strictly Islamic state. Most reject violence in favor of preaching to promote their views. But a minority stress the notion that Islam is under attack and say violence is sometimes justified.聽聽

Ennahda initially sought to coax them into politics, prompting accusations of ignoring incidents of Salafi violence. But after a Salafi-led mob burned and ransacked the US embassy in September 2012, Ennahda changed tack.

Security forces have since cracked down on Salafi activists and gotten into shootouts with militants along the Algerian border. Ennahda is under pressure to keep order and hopes to boost flagging public support before elections expected late this year.聽

That turned yesterday鈥檚 planned rally by Ansar al Sharia, Tunisia鈥檚 foremost Salafi group, into a public game of chicken. Although the group denies聽involvement in聽violence and does charity work, the interior ministry banned聽the rally. Ansar al Sharia vowed to hold it anyway.

A house divided

On Saturday, the night before the rally, police ringed Kairouan, stopping and searching cars.聽Night fell like a curtain on the medieval medina, where the rally was to take place, and the streets emptied as people quickly closed up their shops and scuttled indoors.

Ansar al Sharia had planned to gather in a square beside the Oqba Ibn Nafi mosque, named for the Arab commander who began the Islamic conquest of North Africa.聽Saturday聽night found the mosque鈥檚 imam, Tayeb al Ghozi, in a state of pique.聽

鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 even try to talk to me,鈥� he said.聽Behind him, the聽voices of men singing prayers floated out from within the mosque. Admittedly, he hadn鈥檛 contacted Ansar al Sharia, either, 鈥渂ut the house of the Quran is always open, and they didn鈥檛 come.鈥澛�

Beneath the medina walls, a few young men were idling by a snack kiosk. Like everyone, they wondered if the morning would bring trouble.

鈥淭he problem with Ansar al Sharia is the link to violence,鈥� said one of them, a university graduate named Ayman Mokni, citing recent skirmishing near the Algerian border.聽

鈥淭here are different Salafi groups and they鈥檙e not all involved in that,鈥� said Mohamed Akerni, a high school student.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e all connected, though,鈥� Mr. Mokni said.

Not defeated

By the next morning, police and national guardsmen had materialized in droves around the square beside the Oqba Ibn Nafi mosque. Two security agents paced along an overlooking wall, one clutching an automatic rifle and the other holding binoculars.

Ansar al Sharia said via its Facebook page that its spokesman had been arrested, and urged supporters to avoid Kairouan. Meanwhile, in the poor Kairouan district of Hay al Nusr, Salafis staged an impromptu聽rally at the Abou Bakr As-Sadiq mosque.

Abdallah and other demonstrators insist they are peaceful. Some are involved with the Association for the Introduction of Islam, whose office is near the mosque. But they鈥檙e cagey about discussing its work and convinced they are the target of plots by governments in Tunisia, France, and the US.聽

Many leading Tunisian Salafis have said the country is off-limits for armed struggle,聽says a February report by the International Crisis Group. But 鈥渋f Tunisia was considered a land of聽jihad, we would do聽jihad,鈥� says the man who gave him name as Abdallah.

Violence can still erupt unintended. Yesterday聽Salafi demonstrations in Hay Tadhamen, a poor suburb of Tunis,聽devolved聽into brawls as police and locals traded tear gas, stones, and Molotov cocktails. At least one man was killed and聽15聽policemen injured,聽while聽274聽people were聽detained between聽Friday聽and yesterday, said Agence France Presse. There were also unconfirmed reports of a second death.

As news of the clashes in Hay Tadhamen filtered into Hay al Nusr, and the Salafis continued marching through the Abou Bakr As-Sadiq mosque, Abdallah and his companions reflected on whether anyone had prevailed.

鈥淧raise be to God, there is a victor,鈥� said one of them, who also refused to give his name. 鈥淭he rally took place.鈥�