Orlando Pirates will not find armed military at the airport or tanks on the streets on their arrival in Tunis today, despite the Tunisian president declaring a state of emergency this week in a country battling terrorism in the wake of their 2010 revolution.
Tunisia, where Pirates meet Etoile Sportive du Sahel in the second leg of their CAF Confederation Cup final in Sousse on Sunday, has enjoyed a peaceful transition to democracy following the Arab Spring of 2010, despite holding several democratic elections.
However, it is a delicate peace.
A third major terrorist attack this year, when a bus was bombed just off the main square in Tunis on Tuesday, killing 12 presidential guards and wounding 17, prompted President Beji Caid Essebsi to declare a state of emergency, saying the country was in a "state of war".
Pirates, though, will arrive in Tunis today to be greeted by a warm, quiet welcome and swift ushering through customs at the airport, before their bus trip through the olive orchard and vineyard-lined A1 highway, to the Mediterranean resort city of Sousse.
Pirates are sure to be carefully guarded by their hosts in Sousse, where in June an armed militant gunman killed 38 foreign tourists at this beach paradise.
But the situation in Tunisia is a far cry from the tanks on streets and guards peering nervously from pillboxes in Cairo's military complexes, which the Buccaneers encountered when they faced Al Ahly in the second leg of the 2013 Champions League final, which they lost 2-0.
Then there was a lull in the violence that had ravaged the Egyptian capital after the overthrow of 30-year president Hosni Mubarak and a subsequent military coup against democratically elected Mohamed Morsi.
Today, Pirates players and technical staff, if they are observant glancing to the right of the A1 a few kilometres from the airport, will see some of the remains of Tuesday's bombed-out bus still on a sidewalk in an alley one street away from the attack.
However, there are no road-blocks on the modern, two- and three-lane freeway to Sousse.
At night, with a 9pm curfew imposed for the next month, the freeway stands almost silent, patrolled by the military and gendarmerie.
The state of emergency in Tunisia is far less noticeable than in Egypt in 2013.
And it is sure to hardly detract from the Etoile players' concentration, or the passion of their fans in the Stade Olympique de Sousse, come Sunday.
Pirates can relax in Tunis, but the peace is delicate
Orlando Pirates will not find armed military at the airport or tanks on the streets on their arrival in Tunis today, despite the Tunisian president declaring a state of emergency this week in a country battling terrorism in the wake of their 2010 revolution.
Tunisia, where Pirates meet Etoile Sportive du Sahel in the second leg of their CAF Confederation Cup final in Sousse on Sunday, has enjoyed a peaceful transition to democracy following the Arab Spring of 2010, despite holding several democratic elections.
However, it is a delicate peace.
A third major terrorist attack this year, when a bus was bombed just off the main square in Tunis on Tuesday, killing 12 presidential guards and wounding 17, prompted President Beji Caid Essebsi to declare a state of emergency, saying the country was in a "state of war".
Pirates, though, will arrive in Tunis today to be greeted by a warm, quiet welcome and swift ushering through customs at the airport, before their bus trip through the olive orchard and vineyard-lined A1 highway, to the Mediterranean resort city of Sousse.
Pirates are sure to be carefully guarded by their hosts in Sousse, where in June an armed militant gunman killed 38 foreign tourists at this beach paradise.
But the situation in Tunisia is a far cry from the tanks on streets and guards peering nervously from pillboxes in Cairo's military complexes, which the Buccaneers encountered when they faced Al Ahly in the second leg of the 2013 Champions League final, which they lost 2-0.
Then there was a lull in the violence that had ravaged the Egyptian capital after the overthrow of 30-year president Hosni Mubarak and a subsequent military coup against democratically elected Mohamed Morsi.
Today, Pirates players and technical staff, if they are observant glancing to the right of the A1 a few kilometres from the airport, will see some of the remains of Tuesday's bombed-out bus still on a sidewalk in an alley one street away from the attack.
However, there are no road-blocks on the modern, two- and three-lane freeway to Sousse.
At night, with a 9pm curfew imposed for the next month, the freeway stands almost silent, patrolled by the military and gendarmerie.
The state of emergency in Tunisia is far less noticeable than in Egypt in 2013.
And it is sure to hardly detract from the Etoile players' concentration, or the passion of their fans in the Stade Olympique de Sousse, come Sunday.
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