BBC apologises to claiming Tunisia’s Ghannouchi is on ‘terrorism blacklist’

The editorial board of BBC Arabic apologised for claiming that the founder and leader of the Tunisian Ennahda Movement, Rached Ghannouchi, was listed among the figures which was listed by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt on a terrorism blacklist.

The four countries announced two days ago the inclusion of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, the International Islamic Council, and 11 other figures on their terrorism blacklist. In the news about the issue, BBC Arabic incorrectly reported that Ghannouchi was listed amongst the names. This was based on the fact that the leader of the Tunisian Ennahda Movement is a member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, which raised the Movement’s discontent.

On Twitter, BBC Arabic wrote: “In an earlier version of the subject, Rached Ghannouchi, the founder and leader of the Tunisian Ennahda Movement, was mentioned in a wrong context, and it should therefore be clarified that Mr. Rached Ghannouchi’s connection to this news is no more than his being a member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars.” The site’s management modified the news, and it appended it also in the same ​​ apology.

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On Thursday, the Ennahda Movement announced that it planned to sue BBC Arabic for “putting the name of the movement’s leader Rached Ghannouchi on a list of recently classified terrorists”.    “We have decided to sue all those who put the name of the Movement’s President, Rached Ghannouchi, on a recently released list of terrorists,” said Ennahda’s head of information, Jamal Al-Awei, said.  “Ghannouchi has nothing to do with the list which was recently issued by countries that put some individuals and organisations on its terrorism list.”