Ghanouchi compares his politics to those of Erdogan

The leader of a long-outlawed Tunisian Islamist party returned home Sunday after two decades in exile, telling The Associated Press in his first interview on arrival that his views are moderate and that his Westward-looking country has nothing to fear.

Rachid Ghanouchi and about 70 other exiled members of Ennahdha, or Renaissance, flew home from Britain two weeks after autocratic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was forced from power by violent protests. At the airport, thousands of people welcomed him, cheering, shouting "God is great!" and drowning out his attempt to address the crowd with a megaphone.

Ghanouchi rejected any comparison to more radical figures, including the hardline father of the Iranian Revolution.

"Some Western media portray me like (Ayatollah Ruhollah) Khomeini, but that's not me," Rachid Ghanouchi told the AP.

Asked about his view on abortion, he dodged the question, saying the issue was complicated. Ghanouchi compared his politics to those of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Despite Erdogan's Islamist roots, he has been widely viewed as a pragmatist largely loyal to the legacy of Turkey's founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who sought to create a secular, modern state.

"Why do people want to compare me to (Osama) Bin Laden or Khomeini, when I am closer to Erdogan?" Ghanouchi said.

"I am not going to run for president of Tunisia, nor as a minister nor as a parliamentarian," he said in an interview at his brother's home, where family members celebrated with a festive meal of couscous.