Tunisia's interior ministry confirmed on Friday a ban on a meeting of hardline Jihadi Salafist movement Ansar Al Shariaa in Kairouan city, Mosaique FM reported quoting the ministry's statement.

The movement has vowed to hold its third congress on Sunday, which is expected to be attended by 40,000 people, despite a previous government ban.

The interior ministry statement warns against calls for violence and hatred, as well as attempts to attack police stations, stressing that such activities would be countered with "severity within the framework of the law."

On Friday afternoon, police stopped Ansar Al Shariaa militants from entering Kairouan, Mosaique FM reported.

On Thursday, Ansar Al Shariaa's spokesman Seifeddine Rais said that his movement was the object of governmental discrimination, adding that "The government will be responsible for any drop of blood spilt in Kairouan."

The group's fugitive leader Abu Iyadh, a former al-Qaeda militant in Afghanistan, is accused of being behind an attack on the U.S. embassy last September that left four Islamists dead and more than 40 injured including among the security forces.

Tunisia's security has been challenged by Salafist militants who have become increasingly visible on the sociopolitical scene as they repeatedly press for the setting up of Islamic rule ( Shariaa) in the country.