APPREHENDED
- Full name: Slim Kantari
- Pseudonym: Abu Ayub al-Tunisi
- Alternatives: N/a
- Location: N/a
- Affiliation: Partisans of Shari’a of Tunisia [AST]
Salim Kantari (°ca 1983) is an influential jihadi operative from Tunisia. He became involved in radical Islamism following his move to France in 2006.1 French authorities expelled Kantari in 2010 after he had publicly called for jihad in the country.2 Kantari returned to Tunisia where he quickly linked up with fellow Islamists.
Kantari joined the Partisans of Shari’a in Tunisia [AST; Ansar Achariaâ] shortly after its inception in 2011. He ascended through the ranks and became one of the movement’s most senior leaders.3 Kantari quickly gained a reputation for his uncompromising radicalism.4 In June 2012, he advocated jihad against the Tunisian government in a video message.5 Kantari also issued a fatwa calling for the killing of artists involved in a controversial arts exhibition.6 In September 2012, he was among several senior AST leaders who incited followers into storming the American embassy complex in Tunis.7
The Tunisian authorities arrested Kantari on Sep. 30, 2012 in Jendouba.8 In October 2012, a court sentenced him to one year in prison for his role in the embassy attack.9 He was released four months later after an appeals court had reduced his punishment.10 During his stint in prison, Kantari staged a hunger strike.11
Upon his release, Kantari traveled to Syria via Libya.12 He arrived in the country in October 2013. Little information is available on his activities in Syria, but Kantari was suspected of having planned to foment militancy in Tunisia.13
Tunisian security forces arrested Kantari in the Gabès governorate in March 2014.14 His arrest came shortly after he had reentered Tunisia from Libya.15 Kantari was thought to be activating dormant AST cells and plotting attacks in the country.16 During interrogations, he revealed plans by jihadis to attack and occupy a city in Tunisia.17 Kantari also indicated foreign-based militants were sending fighters and weapons into the country.18
In May 2015, a Tunisian court convicted Kantari and sentenced him to prison for more than eight years.19 His sentence was reduced to six years on appeal in November 2015.20
In January 2017, Kantari launched a tirade at members of the Tunisian parliament who were visiting the prison where he was being held. He loudly declared his allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham], denied the legitimacy of Tunisia as a country and called for the implementation of Shari’a.21
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