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Thousands of
Tunisians turned out on Sunday to welcome home an Islamist leader whose
return from 22 years of exile indicated that his party would emerge as
a major force in Tunisia after the ousting of its president.

The reception for
Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the Ennahda Party, at Tunis airport was
the biggest showing by the Islamists in two decades, during which
thousands of them were jailed or exiled by President Zine al-Abidine
Ben Ali.

Mr Ghannouchi was
exiled in 1989 by Mr Ben Ali, who was toppled on January 14 by popular
protests that have sent tremors through an Arab world where similarly
autocratic leaders have long sought to suppress Islamist groups.
Ennahda is expected to contest future legislative but not presidential
elections, dates for which have yet to be set.

The Islamists were
Tunisia’s strongest opposition force at the time Mr Ben Ali cracked
down on them in 1989 but are thought not to have played a leading role
in the popular revolt. But at Tunis airport on Sunday, they were out in
force.

Up to 10,000 young
men and veiled women packed the arrival hall and car park. Some climbed
trees and electricity pylons to catch a glimpse of the 69-year-old Mr
Ghannouchi, who says he has no ambition to run for state office. “Oh
great people who called for this blessed revolution, continue your
revolution, preserve it and translate it into democracy, justice and
equality,” Mr Ghannouchi told the crowd, to chants of “Allahu Akbar”.
Ennahda supporters embraced each other in joy. A group of men performed
prayers on a grass verge, a scene unthinkable in Tunisia just a few
weeks ago.

Ennahda likens its
ideology to that of Turkey’s ruling AK Party, saying it is committed to
democracy. Experts on political Islam say its ideas are some of the
most moderate among Islamist groups.

Secular order imposed

Tunisia has imposed
a secular order since independence from France in 1956. Habib
Bourguiba, the independence leader and long-time president, considered
Islam a threat to the state. Mr Ben Ali eased restrictions on the
Islamists when he seized power in 1987, before cracking down on them
two years later.

The protests which
dislodged Mr Ben Ali and electrified the Arab world have largely dried
up in the last few days following the announcement on Thursday of a new
interim government purged of most of the remnants of Mr Ben Ali’s
regime.

The security forces
have tried to restore order to the capital, where confrontations
between shopkeepers and protesters have indicated dwindling support for
demonstrators on the part of Tunisians who want life to return to
normal.

U.N. Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon, speaking at the African Union summit in Addis
Ababa, said the United Nations would be “pleased to help the people of
Tunisia freely choose their leaders through timely and credible
elections.”

Mr Ghannouchi told the crowd that the path to democracy was “still long”. “Unite and consolidate, democracy cannot
happen without national consensus and development can only happen with
justice and democracy,” he said. Ennahda activists wearing white
baseball caps tried to marshal the crowd. Asked how they had managed to
organise so quickly, one activist said: “Our activities were stopped,
but you can’t disperse an ideology.” Some Ennahda activists were among
the political prisoners released under an amnesty granted by the
interim government. A handful of secularists turned up at the airport
to demonstrate against the party, holding up a placard reading: “No
Islamism, no theocracy, no Sharia and no stupidity!” Ennahda and its
supporters say they do not seek an Islamic State and want only the
right to participate in politics.