In Tunis, Zitouna mosque back under control autoritésLes Tunisian authorities announced Saturday it had regained control of Zitouna, one of the oldest mosques in Tunisia, after a standoff with an imam who refused any authority of the Government this prestigious place of worship.
"At 7:00 am, the decision of the Administrative Court (...) to check out (of the mosque) in the Department of Religious Affairs has been applied," said the minister, Othman Battikh, private radio Mosaique FM.
A long struggle pitted the imam Houcine Laabidi the Ministry has tried to replace it several times after accusing him of violent language.
"We wanted to do everything step by step, legal, civilized way (...) and non-violent. It took a while but we got a result," the minister added, saying respond to those accusing the authorities d "inaction".
Contacted by AFP, Mr Laabidi was not immediately available.
Controlled with an iron hand under the dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the religious field was left fallow after the revolution that ousted in 2011 and many mosques fallen into the hands of radicals. The government last year launched a plan to "recover" these places of worship.
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