TUNIS: Tunisian group Ansar Al-Sharia's supporters clashed with police in a Tunis suburb yesterday, after the government banned it from holding its annual congress in the central city of Kairouan.

“We call on our brothers to gather in large numbers in the Ettadhamen district of the capital,” the group said on its official Facebook page.

Ansar Al-Shariah official, Sami Essid, confirmed that the movement’s congress would now be held in the Tunis suburb.

“Our congress is being held in Ettadhamen,” he told AFP.

Essid declined to state clearly that the gathering originally planned in Kairouan had been canceled and the group’s Facebook page did not specify either.

A resident of Ettadhamen said a large number of Ansar Al-Shariah supporters were visible in the poor neighborhood of western Tunis, which is a renowned Salafist stronghold. Some of them were armed with stakes and knives and waving the black flag of their movement.

In the market place they chanted “we are going to Ettadhamen,” the witness said.

The government decided to ban the annual meeting last week, saying it threatened public order. The group advised its supporters earlier yesterday to stay away from Kairouan, after the security forces deployed there in strength.

But Ansar Al-Sharia, which does not recognize the authority of the state, has made known its determination to hold its meeting, despite the official ban, and has warned that it will hold the government responsible for any violence.