Thursday, August 1, 2013

Tunisia state funeral for murdered MP

27 July 2013 Last updated at 08:17 GMT Mourners carry the coffin of slain opposition leader Mohamed Brahmi during his funeral procession The government is being accused of being complicit in the killing - a charge it denies A state funeral is being held for Tunisian opposition leader Mohamed Brahmi who was killed on Thursday by gunmen in the capital, Tunis.

His death has sparked widespread unrest. One protester died in overnight clashes in the southern town of Gafsa.

The interior minister said Mr Brahmi, 58, was killed with the same gun as a fellow left-wing politician, Chokri Belaid, who was shot dead in February.

A Salafist is one of the main suspects involved the murder, officials said.

The governing Islamist Ennahda party has denied accusations from relatives that it was complicit in the killing.

'Violence and murders'

Gunmen on a motorbike shot Mr Brahmi, who led the nationalist Movement of the People party, in his car on Thursday morning.

Mr Brahmi's widow told the AFP news agency her slain husband would be buried next to Chokri Belaid at El Jallez cemetery in Tunis on Saturday.

Continue reading the main story File photo of Mohamed Brahmi 58-years-old MP for Sidi Bouzid, birthplace of Arab SpringLeader of a small left-wing party, the Popular MovementPromoted pan-Arabism and socialismFar lower profile then Chokri Belaid, who was assassinated in FebruaryPractising Muslim, unlike Mr BelaidCritic of government, but also had many friends in the main Islamist party, EnnahdaHis wife blames Ennahda for his killing; others disagree.She and her family have accused the Ennahda party of being behind by the killing.

The government has rejected the allegations, instead naming a Salafist radical, Boubaker Hakim, as the main suspect.

Hours before the funeral, a policeman was injured when a bomb on a car exploded outside a police station in the capital's La Goulette district.

Thousands of protesters gathered in Tunis on Friday after the the biggest trade union, UGTT, called a general strike to denounce general "terrorism, violence and murders".

Clashes erupted overnight in Gafsa, with police using tear gas to disperse demonstrators.

One person died during the violence. The circumstances of his death remain unclear.

Earlier in the week, demonstrators attacked Ennahda's headquarters in Sidi Bouzid, Mr Brahmi's hometown and the birthplace of the Arab Spring revolutions which have swept the Middle East.

In February, the murder of prominent secular figure Chokri Belaid sparked mass protests and forced then-Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali to resign.

Six opposition parties have now withdrawn from the national assembly and called for the Islamist-led government to be replaced by a national unity administration.

Mr Brahmi was a socialist and practising Muslim with a pan-Arab ideology, correspondents say.

He was less prominent than Chokri Belaid and not as critical of Ennahda, which came to power in elections following the January 2011 uprising.

The party has faced growing popular unrest over a faltering economy and a rising radical Islamist movement.

Correspondents say many Tunisians, particularly the young, complain that their quest for secular democracy has been hijacked by intolerant Islamists, including the Muslim Brotherhood which forms part of the current government.


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