Tide of Salafism threatens the Arab spring

A protester holds a banner reading "Be careful Mr President Hollande, Tunisia is not Mali" at a demonstration in Tunis on February 9. (AP) More Coverage Late last year, largely unnoticed in the West, Tunisia's president, Moncef Marzouki, gave an interview to Chatham House's The World Today. Commenting on a recent attack by Salafists—ultra-conservative Sunnis—on the United States embassy in Tunis, he remarked in an unguarded moment: "We didn't realise how dangerous and violent these Salafists could be ... They are a tiny minority within a tiny minority. They don't represent society or the state. They cannot be a real danger to society or government, but they...