Introduction
This study seeks to draw the portrait of Fatma Zouaghi, a Tunisian terrorist indicted for membership in the Ansar Sharia organization and accused of plotting the assassination of an ambassador to Tunisia.
This portrait is based on information drawn from Fatma Zouaghi’s judicial file1 as well as from interviews she had with representatives of the Tunisian League for Human Rights in the civil prison for women in the city of Sfax where she isserving her sentence.
I. The first steps into the world of terrorism
Fatma Zouaghi studied midwifery at the Tunisian University. This paramedical discipline is accessible only to out standing high school graduates. Indeed, she was a brilliant student who was close to graduating as a midwife when she got arrested on October 7, 2014.
Educated and motivated, she was raised in a middle-class family. Her father is a vegetable vendor and her mother a housewife. A brother of hersis an engineer and her three sisters are university graduates2. In interviews with her, she describes a serene and peaceful family life3.
A passionate reader who has awell-stocked library at home, she says she reads everything that comes into her hands. One of her favorite books is “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Abu Katada and El Muqadissi nurtured her passion for the ideology of jihad. In prison, she would have liked to continue reading Jorgie Zaydan books and the tales of kalîla wa Dimna, among other material. However, the prison
1 Ruling of the Indictment Chamber No. 437/34, Tunis Court of Appeals, January 28, 2016
2 Master’s Degree in French, Master’s Degree in Computer Science and Master’s Degree in Management
3 According to her court file and interviews with representatives of the League for Human Rights in the women’s prison in Sfax.
administration rejected her request for books. Another passion of hers is surfing the net and social networks.
Her siblings either adopt very strict religious observances or are affiliated with the Takfiri Salafism. Later, this state of affairs will influence her life.
1. Influence of family background and first acquaintances
Her elder brother Mohamed Zouaghi is a takfiristsalafist who participated in the “preachingtents” erected in Douar Hicher by the flag bearers of takfirism such as Abou Souhaib and Kamel Zarouk. He alsoattended the sermons of Seif Allah Ben Hassine (Abu Yadh).
Her sister, Noura Zouaghi, asecondary school teacher, is known for her rigorous religious practice in the school where she teaches. She rejectsco-education and strictly separatesgirls from boys in her classes. Her two other sisters, Souad and Lamia, also pursuea rigorous religious practice.
Active on social networks, FatmaZouaghi quickly builds up relationships withAnsar Sharia supporters. Sheand Afif El Amouri, the admin ofAnsar Sharia’s online pages, became friendsand she set up a meetingbetween him and her brother Mohamedin March 2013. The latterwas requested to deliver an invitation to participate in the KairouanCongress of “Ansar Sharia” to the Imam of “ElHidaya” mosque in the Ettadhamen neighborhood, Hassenel Hermi, alias Abu Souhaieb.
Thanks to her siblings, she quicklybecame an expert in the use of internet toolsand social networks. Her sister, Lamia Zouaghi, a computer engineer, andher brother, a high school IT teacher,trained her and helped her become internetsavvy. Terrorism onlineallows for networking, wide dissemination of ideology and actions, and massive recruitment. Thanks to her IT expertise,she will quickly join the network of the terrorist group Ansar Sharia before forginglinks with its most importantleaders.
2. From online links created around a common faith to online membership in the Ansar Sharia group
She was so good in building a web of virtual relationships that she managed to remain anonymous and to communicate solely under fake profiles on social networks. When she was arrested in the locality of La Manouba, the police knew nothing about her.Indeed, the security forces caught her after one of her classmates, whohad been arrested and interrogated, mentioned her name4.
She had only a virtual presence. Only one of her classmates, Hana Trabelsi, a native of the city of Testour, knew her in person.
4 According to interviews conducted at the women’s prison of Sfax
Her virtual entourage did not consist of only women even if it was a woman who recruited her online into the terrorist organization and its armed branch called “Katibet Okba Ibn Nafaa“.
No one knew her true identity. During her interrogation, her friend talked about someone called “Wided“, who, she said, still lived near the terminus of bus number 56 in Douar Hicher.
With her online female friendships she shared a common faith, rigorous religious practice, and a membership in the takfiri salafism movement.
Her friend Hana Trabelsi had been convertedto takfiri salafism since 2011, influenced as she was by the videos of preachers such as Ahmed Didet and Mohamed Rateb Naboulsi as well as by the religious “hymns” urging women to wear the niqab. Wearing the niqab is a clear sign of ideological membership and of adherence to the terrorist organization of Ansar Sharia.
If her female entourage was paramount to paving the way for her terrorist journey, it was not the only determinant. Fatma Zouaghi was also intouch with several men, including Afif El Amouri, a friend of her brother’s and one of the leaders of Ansar Sharia, besides being in charge of communication in the terrorist organization. He was among the few who knew her true identity. She also met Abu Abdullah the Libyan online. He later sent her money to support the terrorist organization.
Fatma Zouaghi was initially assigned some logistical responsibilities by the organization, such as receiving and delivering sums of money to the relatives of dead or
imprisoned terrorists. She thus gave 1000 TD to the widow of Ali Kalai, the terrorist killedduring the Raoued operation.
In addition to this, she also took part in the dissemination of the jihadi salafism propaganda on behalf of the terrorist organization. On theadvice of her friend Hana Trabelsi,she used to visit a webpage called “TawbaSabri” to receive video footage and images of “katibet Okba Ibn Nafaa“, Ansar Sharia’s armed wing. The terrorist group, which had taken to Mount Chaambi, broadcasts material on social networks, notably on a page called “Dawn of Kairouan”.
Fatma Zouaghi was also a member of charitable associations, such as, for example,”Lammet el-Khir” and “El-Kheyr al-Islamiya“. It was mainly in Douar Hicher that she carried out her activities in the framework of these associations. There she met Nizar Bouazizi, the admin of the “Douar Hicher Youth” Takfiri Facebook page.
It was only after she had accomplished logistical tasks and charitable work that she joined the terrorist organization “Ansar Sharia” and pledged allegiance to Abu Yadh, its leader.
As a member of Ansar Sharia, she was now in charge of communication, though she claimed that she was not a disciple of terrorism and that she was only interested in proselytism.
II. The radicalization of an ordinaryMuslim
Fatma Zouaghi, a believer who turned into a devout Muslim in 2009, wore the hijab out of conviction in early 2010 when she was a student in the 9th grade of basic education. Indeed, influenced by the programs broadcast on “Errahma” and “Enness” TV channels and by the Internet content she was viewing, she considered wearing the Islamic veil an obligation for all Muslim women. In 2011, she wore the niqab after reading Ibn Jibril’s “The obligation to wear the niqab” and other similar writings and following the calls for Jihad that were circulating on social networks.
Asa believer and practicing Muslim, she became a devotee of Takfiri jihadismand a strong advocate of the idea that jihad is an obligation for every Muslim woman and man. Indeed, she drew inspiration from the writings of Abu Katada the Palestinian, Abu Mohamed El Muqadissi and from the religious sermons widely disseminated on social networks.
For Fatma Zouaghi, radicalization has been a phased process. It was a duly reasoned act and in no case was it theresult of a course of action the consequences of which she did notcarefully ponder.
Fatma Zouaghi joined Ansar Sharia while she was a final year high school student preparing to sit for the baccalaureate exam. She grew acquainted with the terrorist group
through the charities whose help to the needy in Douar Hicher she much appreciated, even before she joined the group or even considered doing so.
As a member of “Ansar Sharia”, she adhered to their ideology, including advocating the reinstatement of the Caliphate, governing Muslim societies in accordance with the precepts of Sharia and, finally, rejecting democracy. Therefore, she used social networks to call for the boycott of the elections, recognizing neither the public authorities who rule over the country in defiance of the Sharia, nor the law enforcement officers whom she described as taghouts (tyrants).During her interrogation, she confessed to having hailed, on social networks, the assassination of the 16 soldiers on Mount Chaambi and all the terrorist operations carried out by “katibet Okba Ibn Nafaa”,the armed wing of Ansar Sharia, as a victory.
According to Takfiri Salafism, anideology of which Fatma Zouaghi has become adevoted follower, Tunisian society has lost its bearings and is going through an identity crisis which canbe remedied only if Tunisians returned to the purity of original Islam5.
The path she has taken in life and her rigorous and stringent religious practice belies the idea that terrorism has nothing todo with religion, proving indeed that this is nothing but religious terrorism at the center of which is jihad that aims to clear up the mist hanging up on the Muslim society.
Jihad will be the last stage of her journey within the Ansar Sharia group. She was now ready to commit a suicide bombing attack. According to her judicial file, she watched the videos shot at the training camp of “katibat Okba ibn Nafaa” in the Chaambi mountain as well as the video of the assassination of sixteen soldiers in Henchir Tellaby the terrorist group. After Mokhtar el Kadoussi was arrested by the army in the after math of the said attack, Fatma Zouaghi kept in contact with Makram Zoghbi the admin of “The Dawn of Kairouan” Facebook page. Zaouali Ayech, a friend of hers whom she communicated with on the same page,advised her to contact Khaled Chaieb, alias Lokmane Abou Sakher who is active on the “Tawba Sabri” Facebook page. She also communicated with him through her own page called “Nsiri Sid ahmed”.
Her relationship with Lokmane Abu Sakher had progressed to such extent that he instructed her to recruit young people from the capital to carry out field operations as well as enroll young people from Kairouan and Siliana to provide logistical support to theterrorist organization’s armed branch operating from Mount Chaambi. Healso instructed her to buy six radios as well as solar panels to recharge the batteries of cell phones, USB keys, and a car to transport the youth recruited by “Katibet Okba Ibn Nafaa”. The recruits were intended to strengthen the ranks of the Mount Chaambi terrorists so as to be able to subsequently transport weapons to Tunis, the capital city.
5 An idea shared by all the followers of radical political Islam and taking its origin in Sayed Kotb’s book “Ma’alim fi al- Tariq” in which he says that humanity today lives in the Jahiliya or even worse
Fatma Zouaghi also declared during her interrogation that she expressed her willingness to partake in a terrorist attack against the Bouchoucha security forces barracks, considered by the terrorists to be the stronghold of taghouts. On November 3, 2013, she used one of her Facebook pages called “Houmet al-diyar” to discuss the matter with the owner ofa Facebook page called “Tawq al yasamin“. On that occasion, she reported her imminent participation in a suicide bombing at the barracks of Bouchoucha in the capital.
III. From Adherence to Takfiri salafism to taking action
Fatma Zouaghi introduced herself to Lokmane Abou Sakher, Mokhtar Al kaddoussi and the other members of the organization under a male identity. No one except Afif El Amouri, and, subsequently Abu Iyadh, knew she was a woman, in actual fact. No one, including the few who knew she was a woman, knew her true identity. They knew her only through her page “Houmet al-Diyar”. In fact, she was accessible only online and her only real, non-virtual contact was with Akram Aouadi, who had been on the run before hefled to Libya. Indeed, her refusal of face-to-facecontact with the other members of the organization reflects her refusal to mix with men, she explained.
It was this strict anonymity that made it possible for her to quickly ascend to the highest rankings in the hierarchy of Ansar Sharia.
Indeed, the terrorist organization proposed that she kills a diplomat, such as the ambassador of France, the US ambassador or the ambassador of Turkey. The plot was the brain child of Mokhtar Kadoussi who said he had knowledge that an ambassador was a regular of a hairdressing salon in Carthage Byrsa, a northern suburb of Tunis. Every time the ambassador went there, the hairdresser would shut down the curtains so that no other customer would enter the premises. It was one of Kadoussi’s friends, alias “Abu El Fida”, the owner of a gaming store located across the barber shop, who disclosed this piece of information to him. The terrorist plot was intended to wreak havoc on the country, afterAnsar Sharia were classified as a terroristorganization in the aftermath of the assassination of the politicalleader Mohamed El Brahmi. Other diplomats could have been targeted, too. Besides Fatma Zouaghi, two more individuals, Abdesselem Ben Ali and Abdessalem Ben Trad, were responsible for choosing and killing the potential targets.
Fatma Zouaghi was also contacted through the page of “Sahbeni Akrem”, a page that brought together members of an Algerian terrorist group called “Soldiers of the Caliphate”. Not with standing the dissensions between this group on the one hand and Ansar Sharia and its armed branch, on the other, the Algerians were keen to establish contacts across the border in order to help the Tunisian terrorist group and thus set foot in Tunisia.
Fatma Zouaghi thus became a key figure in the Ansar Sharia terrorist group. She connected the members of the group with one another and withother terrorist groups, recruited new members, imparted information and handled logistics. She operated online, anonymously, never meeting other members of the organization face to face even when
she was in charge of receiving parcels. In fact, the parcels would be dropped off in a corner of the mosque where she would pick them up. She was the one who received an external hard disk dropped off in a mosque in Ettadhamen Neighborhood by theadmin of the “Akrem Sahbani” facebook page. Subsequently, she uploaded this propaganda video on the charitable and preaching activities ofthe Ansar Sharia group onto her PC before she broadcast it online. Through the same page, she learned that the “Soldiers of the Caliphate” had recruited 20 young Algerians to slit the throat of a French diplomat.
Fatma Zouaghi seems to have had access to this last piece of information at the same time as some Ansar Sharia leaders or even before. When sheasked Lokmane Abou Sakhr if he knew about the operation, he said that he did know about it indeed, but that no one had contacted him. When she asked about his opinion, he said that the question should be addressed to his father, Mokhtar Bel Mokhtar who happened to be in Libya, as was Abu Yadh.
She declared that she never met Abu Iyadh and that she never wished to. “He is the leader”, she said, “We obey him, that’s all you have to do. No need to meet him in person because that means that there will be a discussion, a debate. But you don’t discuss with the boss”.
When Afif El Amouri was arrested, she was the one who was instructed via facebook to contact “Farid Najeh”, who is none other than Abu Iyadh. Indeed, she got in touch with him via this page but she declared she did not know that this page was that of the leader of Ansar Sharia.
Fatma Zouaghi had become one of the most active members of Ansar Sharia, taking part in decision-making and showing unreserved allegiance to the organization. She never disavowed the group, remained loyal to it all the way, continuing its activity even when the organization was classified as a “terrorist organization”. At first, she denied the participation of Ansar Sharia in the assassination of Chokri Belaid, before she finally recognized that the terrorist organization was the main architect of the terrorist plot.
Conclusion
This portrait of Fatma Zouaghi is a reflection of the increasingly important roles played by women in terrorist groups, a trend that has led to changes to the structures, organization, objectives and operating methods of these groups. Successively called the “Wahabite Salafist” woman, “the sister of the Muslim brothers”, “the Qotbi militant”6 (after Sayed Qotb) then the “jihadist woman”, women’s roles in the organization have evolved progressively, depending on the degree of adherence to the ideology of the group and their organizational capacity. Though Fatma Zouaghi does not fit into any one of these
6 Hassen Abou Henia, Mohamed Abou Romane, Les passionnées de la Chahada :le terrorisme féminin de Al Qaida à l’Etat Islamique, Friedrich Ebert, Amman,2017, p.38-84.
categories in particular, she was a synthesis of the mall, straddling all of them at the same time. While she shares, like other women in the organization, a common ideology, she does not hold any subordinate position norcarries out any of the functions commonly reserved for women terrorists. The case of Fatma Zouaghi is clear evidence that the roles of women in terrorist groups have changed in recent times. She was not content with the mere logistical tasks assigned to her. Rather, she rose through the ranks of the organization to play a leadership and decision-making role.
True, some ideologues had called for a change in the role of women in the organization. Youssef Laatiri, the terrorist founder of Al Qaedain Saudi Arabia, assigned women greater logistical responsibilities, while Abu Mosab Zarkaoui involved them in both deadly and non-deadly fighting. He makes a distinction between the women”killers” and “non-killers” within his terrorist organization7. What is peculiar about Fatma Zouaghi’s career, however, is that she attained the highest levels of decision-making in the opaque and ultra-secretive sphere that even the membersof ‘Ansar Sharia’,including those charged with committing attacks, neither have knowledge of nor access to. Her journey is similar to that of other women terrorists from the “solidarity jihad in Afghanistan” all through Daesh8.
The information herein calls for further research that cross checks the features common to the jihad of women. The peculiarities of the terroristwomen’s journeys are a function of the countries of origin of these terrorists, their migration (the Mouhajirates), and their ideological affiliations. While all these factors may vary, they nevertheless have a common reference: the religious ideology and doctrine that lies at the heartof the terrorist phenomenon.
7 See previous note, p.112-113
8 Same reference as the previous note p.198-421
