What all right minded leaders and people can agree on: the right thing to do is call for the rejection of terror. 
That is what was done according to this story here: 'Tunisia’s Marzouki calls on Salafists to reject terror'
source: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2013/05/91029/tunisias-marzouki-calls-on-salafists-to-reject-terror/

Rejection of terror, is distinguished from a translation from revelations from the Quran which often is seen as "striking terror in the hearts of those that turn their back on truth right guidance".  Striking terror into the hearts can be done through peaceful means, such as properly educating people, as in providing them educational materials to study.  'Terrorism', on the other hand, is a term in the context of modern methods, whereas terrorism is a atactic used by people to achieve objectives through means which are not in accordance with right guidance.

The news story at http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/tunisia-salafis-say-will-go-ahead-banned-convention, 'Tunisia Salafis say will go ahead with banned convention', wrote "Tunisia's hardline Salafi movement Ansar al-Sharia vowed on Thursday to go ahead with its annual congress at the weekend in defiance of a government ban on the controversial gathering."

'Dissecting' aspects in the immediately above-mentioned sentence, Ansar al-Sharia is roughly translated as the helpers of the law of Islam.  Which begs the question on a unanimous level, meaning all Muslim governments all over the world, is the 'Salafists' movement in everyone's view in complete concordance with the Sharia, the Law of Islam?

Is calling oneself a Salafist even necessary, if one is working to 'help' the propagation of the Sharia?

Ansar al-Sharia as a concept, 'helping or helpers of the Sharia, Law of Islam, can exist independently from 'Salafists', as well as many other nomenclatures that end with 'ists', or 'isms'.  And vice versa, Salafists, can be independent of the concept of ansar, or actions of helping or spreading, or disseminating knowledge about the Sharia.

Question as water-down as it may be, it can still be asked, is it in the guidelines of the Sharia, as in the pure and true law of pure and true Islam, to hold a congress when the RECOGNIZED government or leader has declared not to?
Is being 'former al-Qaeda', indicative that they are no longer associated with terrorism?

Quote pulled from 'Tunisia bans Salafist group’s proposed congress', [TUNIS, May 16, 2013], at http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/tunisia-bans-salafist-groups-proposed-congress/article4719255.ece, “[On Sunday in the historic city Kairouan,] Ansar al-Sharia said earlier on Wednesday it was expecting more than 40,000 people to attend its annual congress, and that it did not need permission from the authorities to hold the meeting."