Walid Phares: Tunisia Attack a Result of Jihadists Losing Control of Government

MACCALLUM: "How significant to you was the meaning of this Tunis hit yesterday?"

PHARES: "That is really a turning point. I have been speaking with -- in touch with Tunisian politicians and experts. But let's make a distinction between this operation against tourists who happened to be in a museum and on a bus on the one hand, and then the general offensive that seems to be happening against the Tunisian government and economy. What we see right now as a benchmark is the fact that the jihadists in Tunisia who in the past have done something similar in 2002 -- attacked the Island of Gerba with tourists -- but then most of their operations were in the south. Why is it that now -- should they be ISIS, al Qaeda, or local organizations --that they are turning to the capital, they are turning to the economy? There must be a major reason. That reason, in my view, and view of many Tunisian experts is the change of government in Tunisia. It was controlled by Islamist government, Ennahda, and now it is controlled by a government that is actually going against the jihadists."

MACCALLUM: "Interesting. When you look at the Arab Spring in line what you’re saying, Tunisia was the first country to fall. That leader was toppled and replaced as you point out. Now they have a leader these Islamists are not happy with. We saw a very similar situation playing out in Egypt. And with that, the president of Tunisia has said we will get these terrorists. We will exterminate them. So has the president of Egypt. Is that a positive sign in terms of what we’re hearing from this new leadership in these two countries?"

PHARES: "Well, you just mentioned Egypt. I just came back from Egypt and met with high officials and they were concerned about jihadists hitting in Tunisia. We know that Libya is already split in two pieces. One is under control of ISIS and others and now Tunisia seems that it is the beginning. Now, President Essebsi of Tunisia was very firm yesterday. He said that he will raise a whole campaign against the jihadist. He also said that they’re mostly foreigners. I’m not sure that all of them are foreigners. Those that have done this are Tunisians but they have linkages as Fox reported before with Ansar al-Sharia and Derna in Libya, and they are international. Many Tunisians by the way, Martha, has fought in Syria and in Iraq with ISIS. We are seeing here an international network operating in many countries and now unfortunately is the turn of Tunisia."