Motorcycles’ Fight: A new document exposing Tunisia’s Brotherhood

Doaa Imam

On the backdrop of the Tunisian media reports about the prosecution’s positive response to the opening of an investigation into accusations by the political movement of the Brotherhood in Tunisia, the Tunisian political establishment sees the need to dissolve the movement, and now before any other time after a proof appeared about the existence of a parallel secret security system to the state institutions.

Al-Nahda faces charges of stealing files related to the assassination of two martyrs, Shukri Belaid and Mohammed Al-Barahmi, who opposed the coalition government. Belaid was assassinated in an attack in front of his home on February 6, 2013, and the second was killed in May of the same year. In December 2014, a Takfiri called “Abu Mokatel” announced Daesh’s adoption of assassinating the martyrs, during a video clip, threatening Tunisians with more attacks in the second round of the election, between outgoing President Mohamed Moncef Marzouki and   President Beji Caid Essebsi.

Reza Radawi, a member of the defense committee for Shukri Belaid and Mohamed ElBarahmi, said that the body would reveal a document exposing the underground regime of the Nahd- movement, entitled “Martial Arts on a Motorcycle”, suggesting that the details contained in this document are similar to the method used in the assassination of the martyrs.

He pointed out that they will in the next days announce the new documents of Mustafa Khedr, who is involved in heading the special system established by the movement to a parallel security system, and is accused of hiding documents related to the political assassinations in the country under the rule of the movement. He added that al-Nahda has hidden other documents on ways of preparing explosives and maps of military barracks and sensitive installations.

Inherited from the mother group, the strategy of killing motorcyclists has been developed since the time of the founder of the group Hassan al-Banna. In his book “The Reality of the Special System”, the leader of the special system, Mahmoud al-Sabbagh, stated that the individual passes through four stages before joining the organization. The third stage includes a training on driving motorcycles and when passing that step, the group obliges whoever is chosen to join the system and then study areas and places, and prepare maps of the most important buildings and facilities.

He also referred to the assassination of Mahmoud Fahmi al-Naqrashi (the prime minister of Egypt who was assassinated by the 1948 special regime). He said: “The main defendant in the incident, Abdul Majid Ahmed Hassan, admitted in his interrogations that three members of the organization rented an apartment in an area near the desert, and were trained on driving motorcycles and cars for a long time, until they excelled at this task.

He pointed out that Al-Nukrashi was to be assassinated in 1946. He said, “I personally monitored the caravan of the Nukrashi Pasha car; I put the bomb on it and I sat on a motorcycle behind his commander, Ali Imran from the Muslim Brotherhood of Sayyeda Aisha area. We hunted him down, but could not find him.” That proves that training on the implementation of operations using scooters is among basics of joining the system.

Nahda movement

With the introduction of a real crisis within the Brotherhood’s home in Tunis, Rashid al-Ghannouchi, head of the Nahda movement, is moving to bring closer viewpoints and attempts to strengthen the movement’s position.

Al-Ghannouchi is seeking to discuss the position of al-Nahda and to confirm the continued support for the movement.

For his part, President Essebsi stressed after his meeting with Al-Ghannouchi that Egypt would end the agreement with the movement and would not retreat.