Magharebia

Tunisia's ruling Islamist party Ennahda on Thursday (July 12th) opened its first congress at home in 24 years, TAP reported. Some 25,000-30,000 people are expected to attend the three-day gathering.

Representatives of Hamas and Fatah from Palestine and the vice-president of Sudan are among the foreign participants in the event.

On the eve of the congress, founding leader Rached Ghannouchi reiterated that his party wanted to present itself as a "moderate Islamist movement" promising "hope and prosperity" to Tunisian men and women, AFP reported.

In March, Ennahda said that sharia would not be inscribed in Tunisian basic law.