Thousands protest against interim government in Tunisia

Sun, 20 Feb 2011

Tunis/Paris - Thousands of people took to the streets of Tunis on Sunday to protest against the interim government, which they accuse of being too close to the regime toppled by popular protests in January.

Estimates varied, but French media put the total number of demonstrators at between 4,000 and 30,000. The protesters demanded a new constitution and a new republic.

Demonstrations have continued since January against the government of Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi, leading to several resignations. Foreign minister Ahmed Ounaies resigned last weekend, just weeks after his predecessor Kamel Morjane stepped down.

Several hundred protesters had gathered in the capital on Saturday to protest against the murder of a Polish priest, who was found the day before with his throat slit at a Maltese Salesian mission school just outside Tunis.

The demonstrators wanted to show their support for religious tolerance.

The murder was the first fatal instance of violence against a member of a religious minority since former president Zine el- Abidine Ben Ali was ousted.

On Friday police defended a Tunis brothel from an attack by around Islamists after weekly prayers. The previous week around 40 Islamists gathered to shout anti-Semitic slogans outside the capital's grand synagogue.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/368295,protest-interim-government-tunisia.html.