Essebsi: “The So-called Friends of Syria Conference in Tunisia in 2012, a Mistake”

  TUNIS, (ST)-“The so-called [Friends of Syria] conference, held in Tunisia in 2012, was a mistake”, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi has asserted, expressing his country’s readiness to “coordinate with the Arab countries as to come up with an initiative that accelerates dialogue and political solution in Syria.”

Interviewed by the Tunisian “al-Shorouq” newspaper published on yesterday, Essebsi said “it is shame on the Arabs to stay outside political settlement in Syria,” stressing that “the crisis in Syria is more important than any other thing.”

 On whether the Tunisian terrorists, who are fighting in Syria along terrorist groups, can return to their homeland, Essebsi said “we won’t prevent any Tunisian from returning home, whatever mistakes he committed. This is the principle of our policy.”

On the other hand, the newspaper reported that Tunisian National Guard units in several Tunisian provinces have uncovered three terrorist networks which help Tunisian terrorists travel to Syria and Libya. The units have also managed to arrest eleven ISIL-affiliated terrorists who planned to carry out terrorist attacks in different places.   

Thousands of Tunisians have joined the terrorist organizations in Syria. Some of them were arrested upon returning to Tunisia, while scores of others were killed in Syria, according to official Tunisian statistics.

Hamda Mustafa