Towns nationwide are braced for
another day of tension on Friday Tunisian rebirth
Tunisia is to bury murdered
opposition leader Chokri Belaid amid huge tension surrounding his
assassination.
Towns nationwide are braced for another day of violence and the largest trade
union has called a general strike.
They say the government led by the Islamist Ennahda party is to blame for
Wednesday's assassination of Mr Belaid.
PM Hamadi Jebali has attempted to defuse tensions by calling for a
non-partisan technocratic government but his party has refused to accept
this.
The assassination has exposed many months of tensions between liberal,
secular Tunisians and the Islamist-led government, says the BBC's Wyre Davies in
Tunis.
Tunisia in the Arab Spring
- Dec 2010: Trader Mohammad Bouazizi sets himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid, sparking anti-government protests, and later dies
- Jan 2011: Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali stands down as president after escalating protests and clashes
- March 2011: New technocratic government announced by interim president
- Oct 2011: Tunisians vote in first elections of Arab Spring
- Dec 2011: Ex-dissident Moncef Marzouki chosen as president, with Ennahada's Hamadi Jebali as PM
- May 2012: Salafi Islamists clash with police amid a row over alcohol sales
- June 2012: Mr Ben Ali is sentenced to life in prison over the killing of protesters in the 2011 revolution. Saudi Arabia refuses extradition
- Feb 2013: Opposition politician Chokri Belaid shot dead; PM announces plans for technocratic government, a move rejected by Ennahada.
Ennahda denies opposition claims that it was behind the
killing.
Our correspondent says that people who thought the violence and division had
ended as the Arab Spring swept through the country almost exactly two years ago
now find themselves protesting on the same streets, fighting with riot police
and accusing the Islamist-led government of stealing their revolution.
The death of Mr Belaid, a leading critic of the governing party has proved to
Tunisians what they already feared, says our correspondent, and Friday's funeral
is certain to be an emotional and highly charged event.
Government critics say that, in recent months, Ennahda has allowed
ultra-conservative Muslim groups to impose their will and opinions on what was
always regarded as a bastion of Arab secularism.
Policeman killed
In the town of Gafsa on Thursday, demonstrators observing a symbolic funeral
outside the governor's office clashed with police.
Among the protesters were lawyers and judges who have launched a two-day
strike in response to the killing.
Chokri Belaid: Opposition politician
- Born in the Jabal al-Joloud area of Tunis in November 1964
- A lawyer and human rights activist, he was also the co-ordinator of the left-leaning Democratic Patriots party
- One of Tunisia's most prominent secular political figures opposed to Islamist parties and an outspoken critic of the government
- Even though his party did not win many seats in the 2011 elections, he remained an important opposition figure who warned against the escalating violence
- He said he was hoping to accomplish what the Tunisian revolution stood for
Earlier, four opposition groups - including Mr Belaid's
Popular Front - announced that they were pulling out of the country's
constituent assembly in protest.
Tunisian state TV said universities had been ordered to suspend lectures on
Saturday and Sunday, while France said it would close its schools in the
Tunis.
The first political assassination in Tunisia since the Arab Spring uprising
in 2011, Mr Belaid was shot dead at close range on his way to work. The attacker
fled on the back of a motorcycle.
Thousands of people later rallied outside the interior ministry, many
chanting slogans urging the government to stand down and calling for a new
revolution.
In the centre of Tunis, a police officer was killed during clashes between
police and opposition supporters protesting against Mr Belaid's death.
Mr Belaid was a respected human rights lawyer, and a left-wing secular
opponent of the government which took power after the overthrow of long-serving
ruler Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.
Current President Moncef Marzouki said the assassination should not affect
Tunisia's revolution, cutting short a visit to France and cancelling a trip to
Egypt to return home to deal with the crisis.
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