The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On December 26, 2014, the Ifriqya Information media group, identified with Islamic State (ISIS) supporters in Tunisia, released via its Twitter account (@ifrikya3) an audio message titled "Revenge, Revenge" by the Salafi Tunisian sheikh Kamal Zarouq, who has joined the ranks of ISIS in Syria. In the message, dated December 23 – presidential election day in Tunisia – Zarouq addresses the Tunisian people and urges them to revolt against their "tyrannical" rulers, headed by President-Elect Beji Caid Essebsi.
The following are excerpts from the message:
Zarouq opens by exhorting the Tunisians to adhere to Islam's command of devotion to Allah alone and to His exclusive rule, and calls upon all of them – including the families of the tyrants [tawaghit] – to consider the tyrants apostates, renounce them and revolt against them. He implores the young people of Tunisia to enlist in the cause of monotheism, and urges all Tunisians, especially the poor and those whom the security forces have abused, to attack the government, first with stones and then with weapons. He emphasizes that the Tunisian police and the National Guard are "craven and corrupt," and calls to fight them to the end.
Zarouq promises that he and his comrades will later join the Tunisians in their fight, for the Tunisian tyrants are "in their sights" and will yet pay for their crimes. He also pledges to avenge the deaths of Salafi activists killed by the Tunisian authorities.
Directly threatening president-elect Beji Caid Essebsi, he promises that his end is near: "Oh Beji Caid Essebsi... with the help of Allah we will [recite the prayers after your death]. Oh enemy of Allah, O apostate… may Allah turn you into an ape before you die. Allah willing, you will find your fate in your grave. Oh Beji Caid Essebsi, you will find your fate, you and the apostate [outgoing president Munsif] Al-Marzouqi. In our eyes all are you are apostates…" He also threatens former interior minister 'Ali Larayedh: "Listen 'Ali Larayedh, oh apostate... We will soon be coming [to Tunisia]. We will wipe you off the face of the earth. We will not leave a single tyrant [alive]. We will not forgo even a single piece of occupied soil."
Referring to the Tunisian presidential elections, Zarouq dismisses them as "idolatry" and stresses that the Tunisian people must follow Allah's law exclusively, rather than man-made laws.
