Gen. Rachid Ammar, the head of the Tunisian military, abruptly resigned on June 24, citing age as the reason. He warned, however, that Tunisia was in danger of becoming another Somalia, and complained about a lack of intelligence resources during a recent operation to confront extremists in the Jebel Chaambi area. Democratic Movement Party chairman Mohamed Abbou had charged that Ammar should be sacked for failing to protect the country and taking too long to round up al Qaeda-linked terrorists in the area.
