By Ahmed Maher
BBC News, Tunis
Tunisia’s government says that some 800 of its citizens are fighting alongside Islamist rebels in Syria, although some estimates put the figure much higher. As radicalised young Muslims increasingly join the conflict, what of the families – and the political dilemma – they leave behind?
Aziza cannot help crying every time she looks at a picture of her only son who has gone to fight in a battle she neither supports nor understands – the battle for Syria.
I met the heart-broken mother at her one-bedroom flat in one of the slums on the outskirts of the capital city, Tunis.
It has been more than a year since 22-year-old Bilal went to declare jihad, or holy war, alongside rebels in Syria against government forces.
Azziz’s son Bilal told her he was leaving to buy clothes and sell them in Tunisia
And she agonises over his picture all the time.
“Bilal was a good, caring son. He was the main source of income for the family, especially after his father died two years ago,” said Aziza, fighting back her tears.
She remembers the moment he left.
“One day he told me and his sister that he was going to Libya to buy clothes and sell them at high prices in Tunis. He never came back. We knew later he was captured in Syria.”
The jihadist trend has picked up steam in several Arab countries following the Syria revolution, which has entered its third year.
As more blood is shed in Syria’s conflict between the government and the rebels, more young Muslims are being radicalised to fight in Syria.
This is not the first time that Tunisian men have taken part in jihadist activity. Security estimates say that hundreds fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.
‘Not a terrorist’
Aziza found out about her son’s fate last month when the Syrian government released a second list of foreign fighters, who they say had sneaked into the country to support the “terrorists” – a catch-all term that the government has been using to describe the rebels since the start of the revolution-turned-conflict more than two years ago.
The mother showed me a copy of this list, which was published in the Tunisian press.
All of the 26 names on the list are Tunisian, and they include Bilal’s full name, his home address, date of birth and his mother’s name.
What breaks her heart is that her son has been called “terrorist” in some Tunisian media outlets.
“He is not a terrorist but a victim. I don’t know who brainwashed him into going to Syria. He could have stayed in his country and helped with money or clothes.”
Azziz’s son Bilal told her he was leaving to buy clothes and sell them in Tunisia