KAIROUAN, Tunisia - Supporters of the hard-line Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia clashed with Tunisian police on Sunday after the government banned its annual rally, saying it posed a threat to society. 

Ansar al-Sharia, which openly supports al Qaeda, is considered the most radical of the hardline Islamist groups to emerge in Tunisia since a 2011 revolution overthrew secular dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

The annual rally, expected to have drawn tens of thousands of members, was due to have been held in the central city of Kairouan, and supporters there threw stones at police, who fired teargas in response, a Reuters witness said.

Police also prevented the group holding a smaller religious meeting in the Ettadamen district of Tunis on Sunday, prompting clashes with the Salafists, who chanted: "The rule of the tyrant should fall," another Reuters witness said.

Police there fired teargas and shots into the air and to disperse some 500 protesters throwing stones at officers.

Military aircraft were patrolling the skies over the district.

Ansar al-Sharia said police had arrested its spokesman Saifeddine Rais. It was not immediately clear where or when he had been arrested, but a security source confirmed he had been detained.

The Interior Ministry said on Friday it had banned the gathering of the group, "which has shown distain for state institutions, incited violence against them and poses a threat to public security." 

Hardline Islamist Salafists are seeking a broader role for religion in Tunisia, alarming the secular elite which fears their agenda is to impose strict views on people and compromise individual freedom, women's rights and democracy.

Tunisian police blamed a Salafist for the assassination of secular opposition politician Chokri Belaid on February, which provoked the biggest street protests in Tunisia since the overthrow of Ben Ali.

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Tunisian Presidency via AP, file

A 2005 photo shows then-Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, left, his wife, Laila, holding their child Mohamed, 9 months, as they celebrate the Eid al-Fitr in Tunis. The family fled the country after being ousted, and now Tunisia has gotten back some of the money it says the president took from the country.

TUNIS, Tunisia -- Tunisia received $28.8 million on Thursday in the first such retrieval of what it calls looted assets held abroad by ousted President Zine Abidine Ben Ali and his family.

The state news agency TAP said a check in that amount had been handed to President Moncef Marzouki by Ali bin Fetais Marri, appointed by the United Nations to head efforts to recover money from leaders overthrown in Arab uprisings.

Marri, Qatar's attorney general, was named UN Special Advocate for Stolen Asset Recovery in September.

TAP said the money returned to Tunisia had been in a Lebanese bank account belonging to Laila Trabelsi, the wife of Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia with his family on Jan. 14, 2011, after popular protests ended his 23-year rule.

Local media say billions of dollars acquired corruptly by Ben Ali and his entourage remains unaccounted for, but the exact amount is not known.

Tunisia's Islamist-led government, grappling with economic woes that include high unemployment, is under popular pressure to recover the money but faces legal and political difficulties in gaining access to the accounts where it is believed held.

An International Monetary Fund team arrived in Tunis this week to discuss a $1.78 billion loan requested by the government.

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Tunisia PM resigns amid growing crisis

Tunisia PM dissolves government

'Great anger' rises in Tunisia

Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali resigned on Tuesday after failing to replace a government pulled apart by acrimony between his Islamist allies and their secular opponents.

Str / EPA

Tunisia's Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali speaks as he announces his resignation during a news conference in Tunis, Tunisia, Feb. 19, 2013. Jebali resigned after his attempt to form a government of technocrats failed.

Jebali had threatened to quit if his plan for a non-partisan cabinet of technocrats to lead the north African country into early elections foundered.

In the end it was his own party, Ennahda, that rejected the proposal, prolonging the political stand-off that has cast a shadow over Tunisia's fledgling democracy and deepened an economic crisis.

"I vowed that if my initiative did not succeed, I would resign and ... I have already done so," Jebali told a news conference after meeting with President Moncef Marzouki.

Tunisia's deepest political crisis since the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that toppled President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali began when leading secular opposition politician Chokri Belaid was gunned down outside his home in Tunis on Feb. 6.

No one claimed responsibility for the killing, but it deepened the misgivings of secularists who believe Jebali's government has failed to deal firmly enough with religious extremists threatening the country's stability.

Protesters poured onto the streets in the following days and Marzouki's secularist party threatened to quit the coalition government.

Jebali said he would try to form a cabinet of apolitical technocrats to restore calm and take Tunisia to elections, but did not consult his Ennahda allies or their secular coalition partners before making the proposal.

Several secular politicians backed the plan but Ennahda, winner of most parliamentary seats in elections that followed Ben Ali's overthrow, opposed the idea, fearing it would be sidelined from power.

Country in 'real trouble'
Jebali bet his own job on the outcome, saying he would quit if he was rebuffed, and lost.

He quits 15 months into the job, although political experts said Marzouki was likely to re-appoint him as caretaker premier before a new leader is appointed.

Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi has said he wants to see Jebali head a new coalition. President Marzouki was due to meet Ghannouchi on Wednesday to ask him to name a prime minister.

But Jebali, announcing his resignation late on Tuesday, said he would not lead another government without assurances on the timing of fresh elections and a new constitution.

No government would be viable without Ennahda's blessing given its strength in parliament.

Ghannouchi has said it is essential that Islamists and secular parties share power now and in the future, and that his party was willing to compromise over control of important ministries such as foreign affairs, justice and interior.

"Ennahda is in negotiations with political parties to form a national coalition government", said Fethi Ayadi, a senior Ennahda official.

Iyed Dahmani, a leader of the secular Republican Party, said some kind of agreement was vital.

"We are in real trouble, politically and economically," he said.

The crisis has disrupted efforts to revitalize an economy hit hard by the disorder that followed the overthrow of veteran strongman Ben Ali.

Tunisia has been negotiating with the International Monetary Fund for a $1.78 billion loan and politicians said Jebali's inability to re-establish a functioning government had slowed efforts to restore normality.

Credit rating service Standard and Poor's said on Tuesday it had lowered its long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit rating on Tunisia, citing "a risk that the political situation could deteriorate further amid a worsening fiscal, external and economic outlook."

TUNIS, Tunisia -- Police and mourners clashed at the mass funeral on Friday of secular opposition leader Chokri Belaid, whose assassination has plunged Tunisia deeper into political crisis.

Braving chilly rain, at least 50,000 people turned out to honor Belaid in his home district of Jebel al-Jaloud in the capital, chanting anti-Islamist and anti-government slogans.

It was Tunisia's biggest funeral since the death of Habib Bourguiba, independence leader and first president, in 2000.

Violence erupted near the cemetery as police fired teargas at demonstrators who threw stones and set cars ablaze. Police also used teargas against protesters near the Interior Ministry, a frequent flashpoint for clashes in the Tunisian capital.

Tunisia, cradle of the Arab Spring uprisings, is riven by tensions between dominant Islamists and their secular opponents, and by frustration at the lack of social and economic progress since President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was ousted in January 2011.

Belaid's assassination has shocked a country that had hitherto experienced a relatively peaceful political transition.

"The people want a new revolution," shouted mourners in Tunis, who also sang the national anthem.

Crowds surged around an open army truck carrying Belaid's coffin, draped in a red and white Tunisian flag, as it traveled to the leafy Jallaz cemetery, as a security forces helicopter flew overhead.

EPA

Tunisian protesters run from teargas fired by police during protests Friday against the killing of opposition politician Chokri Belaid. Belaid's funeral drew tens of thousands of mourners and Tunis seethed with anger.

"Belaid, rest in peace, we will continue the struggle," mourners chanted, holding portraits of the politician killed near his home on Wednesday by a gunman who fled on a motorcycle.

Some demonstrators denounced Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the ruling Islamist Ennahda party. "Ghannouchi, assassin, criminal," they chanted. "Tunisia is free, terrorism out."

Police fired teargas to disperse anti-government protesters throwing stones and gasoline bombs in the southern mining town of Gafsa, a stronghold of support for Belaid, witnesses said.

Crowds there had chanted "The people want the fall of the regime," a slogan first used against Ben Ali.

Cradle of revolt
In Sidi Bouzid, the southern town where the revolt against the ousted strongman began, about 10,000 marched to mourn Belaid and shout slogans against Ennahda and the government.

Banks, factories and some shops were closed in Tunis and other cities in response to a strike called by unions in protest at Belaid's killing, but buses were running normally.

Tunis Air suspended all its flights because of the strikes, a spokesman for the national airline said. Airport sources in Cairo said EgyptAir had canceled two flights to Tunisia after staff at Tunis airport joined the general strike.

Anis Mili / Reuters

Soldiers help mourners carry the coffin of slain opposition leader Chokri Belaid during his funeral procession Friday in Tunis, Tunisia.

After Belaid's assassination, Prime Minister Hamdi Jebali, an Islamist, said he would dissolve the government and form a cabinet of technocrats to rule until elections could be held.

But his own Ennahda party and its secular coalition partners complained they had not been consulted, casting doubt over the status of the government and compounding political uncertainty.

No one has claimed responsibility for the killing of Belaid, a lawyer and secular opposition figure.

His family have blamed Ennahda but the party has denied any hand in the shooting. Crowds have attacked several Ennahda party offices in Tunis and other cities in the past two days.

"Hope still exists in Tunisia," Fatma Saidan, a noted Tunisian actor, told Reuters at Belaid's funeral. "We will continue to struggle against extremism and political violence."

While Belaid had only a modest political following, his criticism of Ennahda policies spoke for many Tunisians who fear religious radicals are bent on snuffing out freedoms won in the first of the revolts that rippled through the Arab world.

Secular groups have accused the Islamist-led government of a lax response to attacks by ultra-orthodox Salafi Islamists on cinemas, theaters and bars in recent months.

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PhotoBlog: Mourning amid the teargas in Tunisia

Fethi Belaid / AFP - Getty Images

A protester jumps after police fired tear gas during a rally in Tunisia, Wednesday.

Tunisia plunged deeper into crisis Thursday after the prime minister’s attempt to restore order on the streets by dissolving the government was rejected by his own party, according to reports.

Hamdi Jebali announced late Wednesday that an interim cabinet of technocrats would replace the Islamist-led coalition – an attempt to calm angry public protests in the wake of the assassination of opposition leader Chokri Belaid.

But the leader of Jebali’s own party on Thursday rejected that move, Al-Jazeera and Reuters reported,  raising the prospect of a power struggle just as authorities were struggling to contain the biggest street protests since the 2011 Arab Spring.

"The prime minister did not ask the opinion of his party," said Abdelhamid Jelassi, vice-president of the Islamist Ennahda party, according to Reuters. "We in Ennahda believe Tunisia needs a political government now. We will continue discussions with others parties about forming a coalition government."

Political analyst Salem Labyed told Reuters the opposition appeared to want to leverage the crisis to its own advantage and that prolonged political uncertainty could kindle more unrest.

"It seems that the opposition wants to secure the maximum possible political gains ..., but the fear is that the country's crisis will deepen if things remain unclear at the political level.

"That could increase the anger of supporters of the secular opposition, which may go back to the streets again," he said.

The fatal shooting of Belaid, who was killed outside his own home early on Wednesday, sparked angry protests.

In the capital Tunis, an estimated 20,000 protesters massed outside the Interior Ministry, while in Sidi Bouzid -- cradle of the Arab Spring revolution -- there were clashes with police.

Reuters

Demonstrators burn documents of the Ennahda party, outside the party's headquarters, Wednesday.

Al Jazeera's Ahmed Janabi in Tunis reported violent clashes between Belaid's supporters and police along the main Habib Borguiba Avenue, with the police using tear gas and batons. 

Four opposition groups that are part of Belaid's Popular Front coalition announced that they would withdraw from the county’s national assembly, France24 reported.

Tunisians rose up against long-time leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali after vegetable seller Mohamed Bouazizi set fire to himself in Sidi Bouzid in late 2010.

Tunisia -- the first Arab country to oust its leader and hold free elections -- had made a relatively smooth transition to democracy. However, it has recently been plagued by economic hardship and the threat from al-Qaida-linked militants.

Anis Mili / Reuters

Tunisian protesters clash with riot police during a demonstration after the death of Tunisian opposition leader Chokri Belaid, outside the Interior ministry in Tunis on Feb. 6, 2013. Tunisia's secular opposition Popular Front said it was pulling out of the constituent assembly charged with writing a constitution after an opposition politician was killed on Wednesday.

Published at 6:30 p.m. ET: TUNIS -- Tunisia's ruling Islamists dissolved the government on Wednesday and promised rapid elections in a bid to calm the biggest street protests since the revolution two years ago, sparked by the killing of an opposition leader.

The prime minister's announcement that an interim cabinet of technocrats would replace his Islamist-led coalition came at the end of a day which had begun with the gunning down of Chokri Belaid, a left-wing lawyer with a modest political following but who spoke for many who fear religious radicals are stifling freedoms won in the first of the Arab Spring uprisings.

During the day, protesters battled police in the streets of the capital and other cities, including Sidi Bouzid, the birthplace of the Jasmine Revolution that toppled Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011.

In Tunis, the crowd set fire to the headquarters of Ennahda, the moderate Islamist party which won the most seats in an legislative election 16 months ago.

Prime Minister Hamdi Jebali of Ennahda spoke on television in the evening to declare that weeks of talks among the various political parties on reshaping the government had failed and that he would replace his entire cabinet with non-partisan technocrats until elections could be held as soon as possible.

It followed weeks of deadlock in the three-party coalition. The small, secular Congress for the Republic, whose leader Moncef Marzouki has served as Tunisia's president, threatened to withdraw unless Ennahda replaced some of its ministers.

Wednesday's events, in which the Interior Ministry said one police officer was killed, appeared to have moved Jebali, who will stay on as premier, to take action.

"After the failure of negotiations between parties on a cabinet reshuffle, I have decided to form a small technocrat government," he said.

"The murder of Belaid is a political assassination and the assassination of the Tunisian revolution," he said earlier.

It was not clear whom he might appoint but the move seemed to be widely welcomed and streets were mostly calm after dark.

A leader in the secular Republican Party gave Jebali's move a cautious welcome.

"The prime minister's decision is a response to the opposition's aspirations," Mouldi Fahem told Reuters. "We welcome it in principle. We are waiting for details."

Beji Caid Essebsi, leader of the secular party Nida Touns, who was premier after the uprising, told Reuters: "The decision to form a small cabinet is a belated move but an important one."

Divisions
The widespread protests following Belaid's assassination showed the depth of division between Islamists and secular movements fearful that freedoms of expression, cultural liberty and women's rights were under threat just two years after the popular uprising ended decades of Western-backed dictatorship.

"This is a black day in the history of modern Tunisia. Today we say to the Islamists, 'get out', enough is enough," said Souad, a 40-year-old schoolteacher outside the ministry.

"Tunisia will sink in the blood if you stay in power."

Calls for a general strike on Thursday could bring more trouble though Belaid's family said his funeral, another possible flashpoint, might not be held until Friday.

Ennahda, like its fellow Islamists in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, benefited from a solid organization that survived repression by the old regime, to win 42 of seats in the assembly elected in October 2011 to draft a new constitution.

And as in Egypt, the Islamists have faced criticism from secular leaders that they are trying to entrench religious ideas in the new state. A constitution is still due to be agreed before a parliamentary election which had been expected by June.

Belaid, 48, was shot at close range as he left for work by a gunmen who fled on the back of a motorcycle. Within hours, crowds were battling police, hurling rocks amid volleys of teargas in scenes reminiscent of clashes in Egypt last month.

World powers, increasingly alarmed at the extent of radical Islamist influence and the bitterness of the political stalemate, urged Tunisians to reject violence and see through the move to democracy they began two years ago, when their revolution ended decades of dictatorship and inspired fellow Arabs in Egypt and across North Africa and the Middle East.

As in Egypt, the rise to power of political Islam through the ballot box has prompted a backlash among less organized, more secular political movements in Tunisia. Belaid, who made a name for himself by criticizing Ben Ali, led a party with little electoral support but his vocal opinions had a wide audience.

The day before his death he was publicly lambasting a "climate of systematic violence." He had blamed tolerance shown by Ennahda and its two, smaller secularist allies in the coalition government toward hardline Salafists for allowing the spread of groups hostile to modern culture and liberal ideas.

On Wednesday, thousands demonstrated in cities including Mahdia, Sousse, Monastir and Sidi Bouzid, the cradle of the revolution, where police fired teargas and warning shots at protesters who set cars and a police station on fire.

While Belaid's nine-party Popular Front bloc has only three seats in the constituent assembly, the opposition jointly agreed to pull its 90 or so members out of the body, which is acting as parliament and writing the new post-revolution charter. Ennahda and its fellow ruling parties have some 120 seats.

Since the uprising, Tunisia's new leaders have faced many protests over economic hardship and political ideas; many have complained that hardline Salafists may hijack the revolution.

Last year, Salafist groups prevented several concerts and plays from taking place in Tunisian cities, saying they violated Islamic principles. Salafists also ransacked the U.S. Embassy in September, during international protests over an Internet video.

The embassy issued a statement condemning Belaid's killing and urging justice for his killers: "There is no justification for this heinous and cowardly act," it said. "Political violence has no place in the democratic transition in Tunisia."

Economic troubles
Declining trade with the crisis-hit eurozone has left the 11 million Tunisians struggling to achieve the better living standards many had hoped for following Ben Ali's departure.

Its compact size, relatively skilled workforce and close ties with former colonial power France and other European neighbors across the Mediterranean has raised hopes that Tunisia can set an example of economic progress for the region.

Lacking the huge oil and gas resources of North African neighbors Libya and Algeria, Tunisia counts tourism as a major currency earner and further unrest could scare off visitors vital to an industry only just recovering from the revolution.

Jobless graduate Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in December 2010 in the city, 180 miles southwest of Tunis, after police confiscated his unlicensed fruit cart, triggering the uprising that forced Ben Ali to flee to Saudi Arabia less than a month later, on Jan. 14, 2011.

President Moncef Marzouki, who last month warned the tension between secularists and Islamists might lead to "civil war", cancelled a visit to Egypt scheduled for Thursday and cut short a trip to France, where he addressed the European Parliament.

"There are political forces inside Tunisia that don't want this transition to succeed," Marzouki said in Strasbourg. "When one has a revolution, the counter revolution immediately sets in because those who lose power - it's not only Ben Ali and his family - are the hundreds of thousands of people with many interests who see themselves threatened by this revolution."

Belaid, who died in hospital, said this week dozens of people close to the government had attacked a Popular Front group meeting in Kef, northern Tunisia, on Sunday. He had been a constant critic of the government, accusing it of being a puppet of the rulers of wealthy Gulf emirate Qatar.

Denies involvement
Human Rights Watch called his murder "the gravest incident yet in a climate of mounting violence."

Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi denied any involvement by his party in the killing.

"Is it possible that the ruling party could carry out this assassination when it would disrupt investment and tourism?" Ghannouchi told Reuters.

He blamed those seeking to derail Tunisia's democratic transition: "Tunisia today is in the biggest political stalemate since the revolution. We should be quiet and not fall into a spiral of violence. We need unity more than ever," he said.

He accused opponents of stirring up sentiment against his party following Belaid's death. "The result is burning and attacking the headquarters of our party in many areas," he said.

Witnesses said crowds had also attacked Ennahda offices in Sousse, Monastir, Mahdia and Sfax.

French President Francois Hollande said he was concerned by the rise of violence in Paris's former dominion, where the government says al Qaeda-linked militants linked to those in neighboring countries have been accumulating weapons with the aim of creating an Islamic state across North Africa.

"This murder deprives Tunisia of one of its most courageous and free voices," Hollande's office said in a statement.

Related:

'Great anger' rises in Tunisia after slaying of opposition leader

Zoubeir Souissi / Reuters

A forensic inspector looks at the car of opposition politician Chokri Belaid, who was shot dead outside his home in Tunis on Wednesday.

Updated at 12:08 p.m. ET: Tens of thousands of Tunisians took to the streets Wednesday to protest the apparent assassination of secular opposition leader Chokri Belaid, witnesses and local media reported.

Belaid, a staunch opponent of the moderate Islamist-led government, died after he was shot in the head and chest outside his home in Tunis.

The Interior Ministry said a man fired at Belaid then jumped onto a waiting motorcycle, which sped away.

Unrest built throughout the day, with the secular opposition Popular Front and it allied opposition members eventually saying they would pull out of the assembly that is acting as Tunisia's parliament and is charged with writing a constitution. The Popular Front also called for a general strike.

Fethi Belaid / AFP - Getty Images, file

Tunisian politician Chokri Belaid, seen in this file image, was assassinated early Wednesday.

Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali described the killing as a “political assassination” and a blow to the country’s 2011 Arab Spring revolution, Reuters reported. “By killing him they wanted to silence his voice," Jebali said.

The victim’s brother blamed the killing on the ruling party, Ennahda, of which Jebali is a member. The party's headquarters was later set on fire.

"I accuse [Ennahda leader] Rached Ghannouchi of assassinating my brother," Abdelmajid Belaid told AFP. "My brother was assassinated. I am desperate and depressed."

France24 reporter David Thomson posted a picture on Twitter of Belaid's angry wife clutching bloodstained clothing.

The ruling party, however, vehemently denied involvement.

"Ennahda is completely innocent of the assassination of Belaid. … Is it possible that the ruling party could carry out this assassination when it would (only) disrupt investment and tourism?" party President Rached Gannouchi told Reuters in an interview. 

"Tunisia today is in the biggest political stalemate since the revolution. We should be quiet and not fall into a spiral of violence. We need unity more than ever," he added.

Images posted on Twitter by English-language news source Tunisia Live showed angry crowds facing riot police on the streets of Tunis on Wednesday.

Witnesses told Reuters that thousands of protesters had gathered there and in Sidi Bouzid, cradle of the Arab Spring uprisings.

Protesters were "burning tires and throwing stones at the police," said Mehdi Horchani, a Sidi Bouzid resident. "There is great anger."

Police responded by firing shots in the air and using teargas, both in Sidi Bouzid and in Tunis, where an estimated 20,000 protesters had massed outside the Interior Ministry.

Authorities scattered the Tunis protesters as an ambulance carrying Belaid's body approached, Reuters reported. 

Tunisians rose up against long-time leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali after vegetable seller Mohamed Bouazizi set fire to himself in Sidi Bouzid in late 2010.

President Moncef Marzouki cut short a visit to France to return to Tunisia following Wednesday’s killing, according Tim Marshall, diplomatic editor of U.K. news channel Sky News.

Tunisia -- the first Arab country to oust its leader and hold free elections -- had made a relatively smooth transition to democracy.

However, it has recently been plagued by economic hardship and the threat from al-Qaida-linked militants.

Reuters contributed to this report.

A man linked by officials to the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi has been conditionally released by a Tunisian judge, an adviser to Tunisia's justice minister said Tuesday.

The adviser, Kamel Ben-Jaballah, told NBC News that Ali Harzi, 26, was released from custody by the investigative judge yesterday.

Harzi, however, remains "technically under investigation" and his release is "temporary," Ben-Jaballah said, adding that Harzi is subject to a travel ban that forbids him from leaving greater Tunis.

New timeline of Benghazi attack reveals quick response

Harzi's lawyer said that his client, who is Tunisian, was released for lack of evidence.

Harzi's release appears to be a setback to the investigation of the Sept. 11 attack on the consulate that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, information management officer Sean Smith and security personnel Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.

The investigation in Libya has been stalled due to the weak central government in the face of the powerful militias, some of which may have been involved in the attack.

Harzi was one of very few people in custody in relation to the attack. U.S. officials told NBC News in December that Egypt had also arrested a member of the group Islamic Jihad for possible links to the attack, but in general they lamented a lack of cooperation from local governments in their investigation and said most suspects remained free.

The attack became a political bombshell in the United States, with critics of President Barack Obama's administration saying that more should have been done to protect the embassy, particularly after officials had requested extra security.

A scathing report cited "systemic failures" within the State Department and was at least partially responsible for the resignation of the assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Three other officials were relieved from duty after the report was released.

Harzi's lawyer, Anwar Oued-Ali, said the presiding judge had "conditionally freed" his client Monday night and that he must remain nearby in case he is needed. The lawyer described the release as "correcting an irregular situation" because, he claimed, authorities never had any real evidence.

Benghazi coverage from NBC News

Harzi was originally detained in Turkey, and in October was extradited to Tunisia, where authorities had said he was "strongly suspected" of being involved in the attack. His lawyer said he was officially charged with "membership of a terrorist organization," a charge punishable by six to 12 years in prison.

In December, FBI officials questioned Harzi for three hours in the presence of a Tunisian judge.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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