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Subscribe to RSSPolice and mourners clashed at the funeral of secular opposition leader Chokri Belaid, whose assassination has plunged Tunisia deeper into political crisis. NBCNews.com's Alex Witt reports.
TUNIS, Tunisia -- Police and mourners clashed at the mass funeral on Friday of secular opposition leader Chokri Belaid, whose assassination has plunged Tunisia deeper into political crisis.
Braving chilly rain, at least 50,000 people turned out to honor Belaid in his home district of Jebel al-Jaloud in the capital, chanting anti-Islamist and anti-government slogans.
It was Tunisia's biggest funeral since the death of Habib Bourguiba, independence leader and first president, in 2000.
Violence erupted near the cemetery as police fired teargas at demonstrators who threw stones and set cars ablaze. Police also used teargas against protesters near the Interior Ministry, a frequent flashpoint for clashes in the Tunisian capital.
Tunisia, cradle of the Arab Spring uprisings, is riven by tensions between dominant Islamists and their secular opponents, and by frustration at the lack of social and economic progress since President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was ousted in January 2011.
Belaid's assassination has shocked a country that had hitherto experienced a relatively peaceful political transition.
"The people want a new revolution," shouted mourners in Tunis, who also sang the national anthem.
Crowds surged around an open army truck carrying Belaid's coffin, draped in a red and white Tunisian flag, as it traveled to the leafy Jallaz cemetery, as a security forces helicopter flew overhead.
EPA
Tunisian protesters run from teargas fired by police during protests Friday against the killing of opposition politician Chokri Belaid. Belaid's funeral drew tens of thousands of mourners and Tunis seethed with anger.
"Belaid, rest in peace, we will continue the struggle," mourners chanted, holding portraits of the politician killed near his home on Wednesday by a gunman who fled on a motorcycle.
Some demonstrators denounced Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the ruling Islamist Ennahda party. "Ghannouchi, assassin, criminal," they chanted. "Tunisia is free, terrorism out."
Police fired teargas to disperse anti-government protesters throwing stones and gasoline bombs in the southern mining town of Gafsa, a stronghold of support for Belaid, witnesses said.
Crowds there had chanted "The people want the fall of the regime," a slogan first used against Ben Ali.
Cradle of revolt
In Sidi Bouzid, the southern town where the revolt against the ousted strongman began, about 10,000 marched to mourn Belaid and shout slogans against Ennahda and the government.
Banks, factories and some shops were closed in Tunis and other cities in response to a strike called by unions in protest at Belaid's killing, but buses were running normally.
Tunis Air suspended all its flights because of the strikes, a spokesman for the national airline said. Airport sources in Cairo said EgyptAir had canceled two flights to Tunisia after staff at Tunis airport joined the general strike.
Anis Mili / Reuters
Soldiers help mourners carry the coffin of slain opposition leader Chokri Belaid during his funeral procession Friday in Tunis, Tunisia.
After Belaid's assassination, Prime Minister Hamdi Jebali, an Islamist, said he would dissolve the government and form a cabinet of technocrats to rule until elections could be held.
But his own Ennahda party and its secular coalition partners complained they had not been consulted, casting doubt over the status of the government and compounding political uncertainty.
No one has claimed responsibility for the killing of Belaid, a lawyer and secular opposition figure.
His family have blamed Ennahda but the party has denied any hand in the shooting. Crowds have attacked several Ennahda party offices in Tunis and other cities in the past two days.
"Hope still exists in Tunisia," Fatma Saidan, a noted Tunisian actor, told Reuters at Belaid's funeral. "We will continue to struggle against extremism and political violence."
While Belaid had only a modest political following, his criticism of Ennahda policies spoke for many Tunisians who fear religious radicals are bent on snuffing out freedoms won in the first of the revolts that rippled through the Arab world.
Secular groups have accused the Islamist-led government of a lax response to attacks by ultra-orthodox Salafi Islamists on cinemas, theaters and bars in recent months.
Related:
PhotoBlog: Mourning amid the teargas in Tunisia
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"Braving chilly rain, at least 50,000 people turned out to honor Belaid in his home district of Jebel al-Jaloud in the capital, chanting anti-Islamist and anti-government slogans."
This is a good beginning.
Saudi Arabian invented and exported extremist Sunni versions of Salaffi and Wahhabi are dangerous and they are wrecking havocs all over including killing Muslims themselves.
Look at Syria, Mali, Pakistan and other basket case nations.
They are bad for sane Muslims, females, Muslims minority sect/tribe people and non-Muslims.
Such extremist forms of religion will not survive for long!
It is better for moderate and sane Muslims to hound out the Sunni Islamic extremists like Salaffi, Wahhabi, al Qaida, Taliban, MB and other label ones.
Best of luck Tunisians and battle for better days ahead.
Jonathan, "Such extremist forms of religion will not survive for long?".....Really, you say ?....How do you explain the tenures of the Catholic, Taliban and Southern Baptist ?
Ellis..: Even Catholic hold is getting weaker. You know: in the US, most of the parishes have been bankrupted by law suits.
Even Pope's inner circle has become butt of jokes!
I have my own son-in-law's family, where many don't go near their priests or churches!
In ICT age, a religion will survive if it reforms with time; becomes moderate and inclusive.
This is the result of allowing religion a foot hold in government. All known faith based governments have been tyrannic in nature, thank God the framers of the US Constitution realized that.
@Ellis and many other anti-Christian bigots. Why bring up Christianity while the subject is about Islam? Please for goodness sake stop your diatribe. We read your message over and over again, we know that you hate religion in general and Christianity in particular. Your postings tell us more about who you are than about the subject being discussed.
As for what is really going on, jonathan is right, Saudi Arabia using its unlimited resources, has exported its most bizarre, most hateful form of Islam to the rest of the world including the United States. Its danger is much more serious than what liberals in the West understand. Many of those liberal postings sound like someone complaining about the rain and not recognizing that he is on board a sinking ship!