BEIRUT: Political Islam was a major topic of conversation among Arab leaders Monday, the final day of a U.N. meeting in Beirut that focused on democracy in the region. Representing the country that jump-started the so-called “Arab Spring” at a Monday roundtable entitled “Prospects for the future of the Arab region,” Tunisia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Rafic Abdel-Salam said Islamists are now part of political life. In Tunisia’s election last year, a once-banned Islamist party won the largest share of votes in the new assembly.

He said that “they will be affected by the political scene,” especially as Islamists did not win a majority of assembly seats and had to form a coalition government in Tunis.

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