TUNISIA GOVT GATHERED IN EMERGENCY MEETING

Tunis, 22 Ramadan 1434/30 July 2013 (MINA) – Tunisia’s government officials gathered in emergency meeting on Monday as protesters issue demanding its resignation.

Tensions have spiralled in Tunisia since the murder on Thursday of opposition MP Mohamed Brahmi, the second figure gunned down in six months, the Modern Ghana quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Many Tunisians blame the government for the two killings, particularly for failing to rein which were considered radical accused of a wave of attacks since strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was toppled in a popular uprising in 2011.

The government led by Ennahda party was due to begin crucial talks at 08.00 GMT.

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In the afternoon, the powerful General Union of Tunisian Labour (UGTT) was to convene “to decide the fate” of the country, its secretary general Sami Tahri said.

Early on Monday, a group of 30 demonstrators protested outside the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) for a fourth day running, after night demonstrations by supporters and opponents of Ennahda.

Police used tear gas to disperse the protesters, an correspondent of the Modern Ghana source reported.

Overnight around 10,000 people demonstrated for and against the government on Bardo Square outside the parliament building.

Police vans and metal barricades separated the two camps as numbers swelled after the iftar meal that breaks the dawn-to-dusk fast observed by the faithful during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

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Opposition MPs and secular politicians joined protesters calling for the dissolution of the NCA and the resignation of the government.

On the other side, government supporters chanted back: “The people are Muslim and will not capitulate”.

“Those who boycott the ANC betray Tunisia,” Ennahda MP Fathi Ayadi told. “We will resist until the objectives of (2011) are achieved and there won’t be a coup in this country.”

But NCA speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar has called for “restraint” and urged deputies to return and resume work on a much-delayed constitution, one of the thorniest issues in post-revolution Tunisia.

Brahmi’s murder has fuelled anger across Tunisia and dozens of MPs are boycotting parliament in protest at what many say is the government’s failure to track down his killers.

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Authorities have blamed Salafists close to the Al-Qaeda-linked group Ansar al-Sharia of gunning down Brahmi, whose body was riddled with 14 bullets outside his home.

They say the same gun used to assassinate opposition politician Chokri Belaid in February killed Brahmi.

But Ansar al-Sharia denied any responsibility, calling Brahmi’s murder “a political assassination” which “only profits remnants of the former regime and lackeys of the Zionists and Crusaders”. (T/P09/P04).

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)