Tunis – Nébil Zaghdoud
Tunisian interior minister Ali Larayedh has denounced what he described has \"uncalculated risks\" of some Tunisian youth who traveled to Syria and joined the Free Syrian Army guerilla group. This was his first comment on what had been circulated by official Syrian media about the issue. Larayedh said in a press conference on Friday that it was confirmed that some of the youth were imprisoned in Syrian jails, others had been killed, while others were still among the rebels. \"There are efforts to determine the number of killed and imprisoned Tunisians in Syria...the situation of every Tunisian abroad is always a matter of concern for the government,\" he said. Syrian media has recently broadcast the confessions of some youth who affirmed their desire to fight alongside the Free Syrian Army, pointing out that six Tunisians were killed in \"terrorist\" missions in the central city of Homs. The youth allegedly belong to the Salafist Jihadist current. The Syrian envoy to the UN earlier said that 26 Arab fighters were arrested and confessed their association with al-Qaeda, of which 19 were Tunisian.