TUNIS: Tunisians have lost patience with hard-line Islamists sowing violence in the country, and authorities will deal firmly with any such groups “who believe they are charged by God to purify society,” the prime minister said.
 
The statements by Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali were the sternest warning yet against Salafists who have attacked police stations and other sites while demanding rigid Islamic law in a nation still emerging from years of secular dictatorship. They follow criticism that the new government, which is led by a moderate Islamist party, has been too timid in dealing with the hard-liners.
 
“The patience of Tunisians is at an end. We will not sit by with our arms crossed – we will be on the ground applying the law,” the prime minister said late Wednesday.
 
Tunisia’s police are allowed to use live rounds when needed, the interior minister warned Thursday after the weekend attacks on police stations.
 
“Those who think that sovereign institutions such as police barracks can be attacked with impunity should know that in such cases the law authorizes the use of live rounds,” Ali Larayedh said.
 
“The state of emergency is still in force and we will take all necessary steps to restore security in the country,” he added.
 
Tunisians overthrew their longtime secular dictator last year, a revolution that engendered a flowering of political Islam and the victory of Jebali’s moderate Islamist Ennahda party at the ballot box. But the new freedom has also given space to factions such as the ultraconservative Salafists, who have been more than vocal about their demands.
 
After police arrested a Salafist suspect in the northern town of Jendouba, a group of 200 bearded men attacked the police station Saturday with firebombs and stones. They were repulsed with tear gas, but went on a rampage downtown, attacking bars and liquor stores. Fifteen suspects have been arrested.
 
Earlier in the month, another group of conservatives attacked bars in the central town of Sidi Bouzid. There also have been numerous other incidents of clashes between Salafists and ordinary citizens since the overthrow of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011.
 
Leftist and liberal opposition parties allege that the government’s cautious approach toward the Salafists has merely emboldened them in their quest to turn Tunisia into an Islamic state.
 
“The deterioration of the political, social and security situation in Tunisia today is due to the inability of the team in power to find solutions to the urgent problems in the country,” Maya Jribi, the head of the Republican Party, a newly formed alliance of opposition parties, said Monday. She called for a national unity government to address the country’s problems.
 
On Sunday, Tunisia’s police union demanded expanded powers to deal with the Salafists, including “all means necessary” to put down the disorder.
 
Jebali didn’t give specifics about what steps the government would take to deal with the hard-liners, but said, “It is imperative that these incidents be ended and a firm approach be taken to those who believe they are charged by God to purify society.”