Tunisian Al-Nahda criticises media defamation campaign against Qatar

On Thursday The Islamic Al-Nahda Movement criticised the media campaign in Tunis targeting Qatar and Qatari officials.

Al-Nahda said in a statement: “The sister country Qatar and its officials are being attacked by mass media supported by political parties and media people who have disregarded all ethics of criticism.”

“The sister country [Qatar] did not hesitate to support the Tunisian revolution and Tunisian people before and after the revolution.”

The Ruling party pointed out “this defamation campaign harms Tunis and aims at distancing it from one of its best supporting countries.” It also stated that such efforts “revive the notorious campaign against sources of income [for Islamic parties], which was known as ‘source draining policy.’ It was carried out by the deposed president Zeinulabideen bin-Ali.”

Al-Nahda highlighted the efforts that [Qatari] Al-Jazeera satellite channel played in the success of the revolution, which resulted in the emancipation of Tunisians.

Regarding the relationship between the two countries, Al-Nahda hailed Qatar and stressed the strong relationship between the two countries. It said that their relationship and the Tunisian revolution attempting to achieve its aims could be affected by such campaigns.

In the statement, The Islamic movement called for ignoring political polarisation and to avoid allowing this to damage national interests. It also called on mass media to exercise objectivity and not to broadcast false or doctored information in a way that contradicts the ethics of the media profession.