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Seif Allah Ibn Hussein, also known as Abu Iyadh, who heads the extremist Ansar al-Sharia movement, preached at the Al-Fatah mosque in the centre of the capital on Monday surrounded by his followers, and then left, despite a heavy security deployment around the building.
During his sermon, he accused the police of provoking the protesters who attacked the US embassy, and called for the resignation of Interior Minister Ali Latayedh, a member of the ruling Islamist party Ennahda.
Le Temps, another French-language daily, said the failure to arrest Abu Iyadh left him free to spread his "vindictive venom at the Al-Fatah mosque before he was warned and given time to escape."
"It recalls the way in which (Osama) bin Laden taunted the Americans for decades," the paper added.
Interior ministry spokesman Khaled Tarrouche, quoted in the press, said the police did not move in to arrest the radical Islamist leader, "to avoid further confrontations with the Salafist groups present."
Abu Iyadh's arrest had been postponed to a later date, he added.
Four people were killed and dozens wounded when Friday's demonstration outside the US embassy turned violent, with protesters hurling petrol bombs and storming the mission.
It took the security forces, who fired live rounds and tear gas in response, nearly three hours to bring the violence under control.
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During his sermon, he accused the police of provoking the protesters who attacked the US embassy, and called for the resignation of Interior Minister Ali Latayedh, a member of the ruling Islamist party Ennahda.
Le Temps, another French-language daily, said the failure to arrest Abu Iyadh left him free to spread his "vindictive venom at the Al-Fatah mosque before he was warned and given time to escape."
"It recalls the way in which (Osama) bin Laden taunted the Americans for decades," the paper added.
Interior ministry spokesman Khaled Tarrouche, quoted in the press, said the police did not move in to arrest the radical Islamist leader, "to avoid further confrontations with the Salafist groups present."
Abu Iyadh's arrest had been postponed to a later date, he added.
Four people were killed and dozens wounded when Friday's demonstration outside the US embassy turned violent, with protesters hurling petrol bombs and storming the mission.
It took the security forces, who fired live rounds and tear gas in response, nearly three hours to bring the violence under control.
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