Tunisia adopts new anti-terror law

Tunis

The Tunisian parliament adopted a new anti-terror law overnight Friday aimed at beefing up powers to confront a jihadist threat following deadly attacks but which has been slammed by rights groups as draconian. 

The law was adopted after three days of debate by 174 members of parliament with ten abstentions and no votes against, according to an AFP tally.

The president of the assembly, Mohamed Ennaceur welcomed the passing of the "law against terrorism and money laundering", calling it an "historic" moment. 

"It's with pride we have arrived at this historic moment ... this law will reassure the citizens," Ennaceur said.

The new legislation comes after a gunman massacred 38 tourists on a Tunisian beach in an attack claimed by Islamic State group (IS) on June 26. 

In March an attack on the Bardo museum in the capital Tunis that was also claimed by IS left 21 tourists dead.

The law replaces legislation from 2003 which was adopted under the dictatorship of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and rights groups say was largely used to crush dissent, in particular then-banned Islamist party Ennahda, which today is one of the main players in Tunisian politics. 

While the law was widely supported by both secular and Islamist parties, it has been strongly criticised by rights groups and NGOs.