'Tunisian premier predicts Muslim Brotherhood takeover'

WikiLeaks document from March 2008 quotes Ben Ali as saying situation in Egypt "explosive," claims Libya's Gadhafi "is not a normal person."

By HERB KEINON
Tunisia president Ben Ali (photo credit: Courtesy [archive])
Tunisia president Ben Ali
(photo credit: Courtesy [archive])
The moderate Arab states' fear of Iran and Islamic radicalism continued to pour forth from documents released by WikiLeaks Tuesday night, with the Tunisian President predicting in a conversation with a senior US diplomat two years ago that the Muslim Brotherhood would take over Egypt sooner or later.
According to a cable written on March 3, 2008 by Robert Godec, the US ambassador in Tunisia, Tunisian President  Zine El Abidine Ben Ali told Assistant Secretary of State David Welch that "Tunisia was happy it was part of the Maghreb, and not part of Levant or Gulf."
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The dispatch said Ben Ali "opined that the situation in Egypt is 'explosive,' adding that sooner or later the Muslim Brotherhood would take over. He added that Yemen and Saudi
Arabia are also facing real problems. Overall, the region is 'explosive.'"
Ben Ali said that Syria was a source of concern in the region, since it is "acting for Iran, and the later is fueling regional problems." Ben Ali, according to the dispatch, said "he 'does not trust' the Shia."
Ben Ali also did not guard his tongue regarding Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, saying he "is not a normal person," according to the dispatch.
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