Tunisia: An audio recording raises speculations about the involvement of “Ennahdha” in carrying out assassinations and terrorist operations

The unveiling of the first audio recording by the head of the secret service of the Islamic Ennahdha Movement in Tunisia, Mustapha Khedr, on Tuesday raised speculation about the involvement of security leaders in communication and coordination with the secret service of the movement, which is accused of carrying out assassinations and terrorist operations.

The authenticity of the recording could not be confirmed, but a senior security source confirmed that the Tunisian Ministry of Interior had started an investigation into the content of the recording.
The leaked recording coincides with the start of investigations with Rached Ghannouchi, the head of the Ennahdha Movement, over accusations made by the defense of Chokri Belaid, a politician assassinated in 2013, and the pressure exerted by the Commission to uncover the circumstances of the assassination.

The audio recording, Mustafa Khedr’s first leaked recording, showed a conversation between the head of Ennahdha’s secret service and a security chief in encrypted language.

Mustafa Khedr faces charges from Chokri Belaid’s defense team of direct involvement in the planning and execution of the 2013 murders of Chokri Belaid and former Egyptian Constituent Assembly MP Mohamed Brahmi.

The leaked audio came days after the defense team revealed data on Belaid, which it said implicated Ennahdha President Rached Ghannouchi, the head of its secret service Mustafa Khedr, Tunisian Prosecutor Judge Bashir al-Akrami, and security leaders.

Commission member Abdel Nasser Al-Aouini said that the assassination of Chokri Belaid was a complex crime, and that the defense had evidence that Ennahdha was aware of the assassination.
“The defense also has information that the assassination scenario is in the file of one of the accused, and it has evidence on how to steal files from the courts”, Al-Aouini added. There are those who got rid of the two weapons used in the assassination of Chokri Belaid in the sea at Radès, south of the capital Tunis, and the documents promised by the investigating judge were hidden.

He said that the attempt to cover up the case file started by manipulating the evidence material to limit the crime to two or three people from planning to execution. He pointed out that the events are continuing and the facts are showing in relation to the involvement of Ennahdha in the assassination.