Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The new Islamist-dominated government in Tunisia faces a major challenge in gaining control over the security forces, according to a U.S. report.

The report said ousted president Zein Abidine Bin Ali, deemed a major human rights
violator, was believed to have employed 200,000 security officers, far
larger than the military.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) asserted that Tunisia could have kept much of its security officers from the Bin Ali era, which ended in January 2011. CRS, in a report titled “Political Transition in Tunisia,” said the post-Bin Ali regime has not yet released information on how many officers were dismissed and the size of the new security force.

“It is unclear to what extent the security services have been
restructured,” the report, dated Dec. 16, 2011, said.

In March 2011, the post-Bin Ali Interior Ministry said it fired several dozen senior security officials. The ministry also said it was dissolving units that resembled what was termed a “political police.”

“However, the number of affected personnel and whether they would retain
their employment with the government was not made public,” the report,
provided to Congress, said.

Tunisia, slated to receive $4.9 million in U.S. military aid in 2012,
has reported attempts by Al Qaida to infiltrate the North African state. In
May 2011, Tunis reported its first arrest of Al Qaida Organization in the
Islamic Maghreb agents, and days later the insurgency group attacked a
Tunisian Army patrol.

In contrast, the military in Tunisia is not believed to have been
significantly affected by Bin Ali’s ouster. The report said the military
contains about 35,000 personnel and its budget constituted 1.4 percent of
the gross domestic product, deemed low for the Middle East.

“Following Bin Ali’s exit, members of the military led efforts to
stabilize the security situation, including by pursuing elements of the
domestic security apparatus and unidentified armed elements seen as loyal to
the old regime,” the report, authored by Alexis Arieff, said.

  Al Qaida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, but his huge security force remains a problem for Tunisia’s Islamist government, Congressional Research Service, Report: Bin Ali gone, Tunisia Army, Zein Abidine Bin Ali