Sitting in his office near the Palais de Justice in Kasbah, the heart of Tunis, the Tunisian Justice Minister Bechir Tekkari was unable to hide his frustration with Britain for refusing to extradite Mohamed Ali Harrath.

During a 45-minute interview, Mr Tekkari made serious but unspecific allegations against Mr Harrath. The claims are purported to be based on the confessions of Mr Harrath’s co-accused during criminal trials in Tunisia. All are rejected by Mr Harrath, and Tunisia has produced nothing to corroborate its accusations.

Mr Tekkari claimed that former members of the FIT (the Tunisian Islamic Front) admitted during court hearings that Mr Harrath met and successfully sought assistance from Osama bin Laden, that Mr Harrath sent volunteers to camps in Pakistan “where they received training on how to commit terrorist acts and assassinations” and that he continued “sending new recruits to terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan” after travelling to England.

Mr Harrath denies having met bin Laden and says that the terror training allegations were “completely outrageous and false”.

Mr Tekkari accused Mr Harrath of having prepared “plans and programmes for terrorist acts projected by the (FIT)” from London, but provided no details of the plots.

He claimed that, since basing himself in Britain, Mr Harrath had been “recruiting new members to the terrorist group he founded; collecting funds to finance the activities of this organisation; [and] co-ordinating the action of the [FIT] with the fundamentalist organisation Ennahda, of which it represents the military wing”.

A human rights activist in Tunisia who is also a former member of Ennahdha said that information collated by his organisation did not identify Mr Harrath as ever meeting bin Laden or having any involvement with him, al-Qaeda or any terrorist cell. The source, who claims to have been jailed and tortured by the Tunisian Government for opposing its regime, said that Mr Harrath was a “respected figure” in Tunisia and had lectured on Islam. The source also accused the Tunisians of repeatedly bringing false accusations against Mr Harrath in his absence because they knew that he would be unable to defend himself. “We don’t encourage him to return here,” the source said.

Mr Harrath has repeatedly rejected allegations that he was in any way involved in any terrorist-related activities and says that he was always an opponent of what he derided as the “one-party state” in Tunisia. President ben Ali has won 95 per cent of the votes in the past three elections.

Amnesty International accuses Tunisia of torturing political suspects with impunity and imposing lengthy prison terms after unfair trials on terrorism-related charges. The British Government accuses Tunisia of severely restricting individual rights and liberties, its ruling party dominating political life while opposition activity is heavily circumscribed.

Mr Harrath points out that the “wanted” notice issued against him by Interpol on behalf of the Tunisian Government is 16 years old. The red notice is not an international arrest warrant but a request “that the wanted person be arrested with a view to extradition”. Mr Harrath says that it is “embarrassing, distressing and unjust”.

Mr Tekkari disagrees, saying that he has no evidence that Mr Harrath has rehabilitated himself. As for his direct response on Mr Harrath’s advisory role with Scotland Yard, he says: “We cannot answer this question as long as we don’t know what the content is of what you call advice given by Harrath to the British Metropolitan Police.”

The Tunisian Government claims that a suicide bomber involved in an assassination in Afghanistan two days before 9/11 was also a member of the FIT. General Ahmed Shah Massoud, leader of the anti-Taleban Northern Alliance, was blown up by two men posing as television journalists.Mr Harrath insists that the assassin was never a member of the FIT, which he says had been dissolved by 2000.

History of a nation

- Tunisia became a French protectorate in 1881. The country was granted independence in 1956
- Tunisia’s first President, Habib Bourguiba, repressed Islamic fundamentalism and established rights for women unmatched by any other Arab nation
- In 1987 Bourguiba was removed and replaced by Zine el-Abidine ben Ali in a bloodless coup
- A referendum on draft contitutional amendments in 2002 prompted an official voter turnout of 99.95 per cent, with 99.52 per cent saying “yes” to letting ben Ali stand again
- Muslims make up 98 per cent of the country’s 10.4 million population, with Christians comprising 1 per cent and Jews and others making up the rest
- Tunisia’s main industries are mining, agriculture, tourism and textiles, and footwear
- Tunisia is the 72nd-largest world economy, sandwiched between Algeria and Libya

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