Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Tunisia has been concerned over the influence of Al
Qaida-aligned clerics from neighboring Morocco.

Officials said the Tunis government was intent on countering efforts by
Muslim elements in Morocco to spread Al Qaida doctrine.

The officials said the Moroccans were encouraging violence in Tunisia, particularly against secular and Western elements in the North African state.

On May 15, Tunisia deported two Moroccan clerics. Omar El Hadouchi and Hassan Kattani were accused and imprisoned by Morocco for indoctrinating the 12 suicide bombers who killed 45 people in Casablanca in 2003. Eight years later, the clerics were pardoned.

“They are on the list of people banned from entry on to Tunisian
territory and will be sent back home during the day,” Tunisian Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled Tarrouche said.

The deportation sparked protests by Tunisia’s growing Salafist
community. Police said 300 Salafists, some of whom shouted threats, arrived at Tunis airport to support El Hadouchi and Kattani.

Authorities have repeatedly battled the Salafist movement in its attempt
to shut down television stations and attack secular university students.
Since late 2011, the Tunisian Interior Ministry has been controlled by the
Muslim Brotherhood.

“Our association is neither terrorist nor backward,” Salafist
representative Salim Bin Yahlas, a member of the Essalam movement, said. “We
invited two influential sheiks, and we calmly ask the Interior Ministry to
tell us what administrative procedures to follow and the conditions
necessary to receive them.”

  2003 terror attack in Casablanca, Hassan Kattani, Moroccan Salafists, Muslim Brotherhood, Omar El Hadouchi, Tunisia deports Moroccan clerics said to spread Al Qaida tenets