One of the key figures of the Muslim Brotherhood… What do you know about Tunisian Oussama Sghaier?
The Muslim Brotherhood relies on various tools to spread its ideas, including its leadership figures, to exert its influence on societies. One such figure is Oussama Sghaier, a leader in the Tunisian Ennahdha Movement and one of the key figures of the Muslim Brotherhood in Italy.
Al-Saghir was born in 1983 in the capital of Tunisia into a family with an Islamist orientation. The family was forced to leave Tunisia after Zine El Abidine Ben Ali came to power in 1987. They settled in Italy and obtained political asylum.
He studied in Italy, earning a degree in Political Science and International Relations from La Sapienza University in Rome. Sghaier participated in the founding of the Muslim Youth Union in Italy and was elected its president. He also served as a member of the Youth Council for Religious and Cultural Diversity at the Italian Ministries of Interior and Youth, as reported by the Arab Center for Extremism Studies.
He returned to Tunisia following the 2010-2011 uprising and was elected as a member of the Constituent National Assembly. Sghaier also worked as a political advisor to the former Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem. In 2014, he was elected as a deputy in the Parliament for the Ennahdha Party (Italy constituency) and was re-elected in 2019. He remained in office until the Tunisian Parliament was dissolved by presidential decree in 2022. Currently residing in Tunisia, he is attempting to return to Italy, but like many leaders of the Ennahda Movement, he is prohibited from traveling.
Despite denials from its leadership, the clear connection between the Ennahdha Movement and the global organization of the Muslim Brotherhood has become evident to the public. Media outlets have revealed on multiple occasions the participation of the movement’s leader, Rached Ghannouchi, in meetings of the organization following the ousting of the late Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi.
