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| Leading Tunisian Opposition Figure Is Fatally Shot | Leading Tunisian Opposition Figure Is Fatally Shot |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A leading Tunisian opposition politician who had been critical of the Islamist-led government was fatally shot outside his home in Tunis Wednesday, the government news agency said. | A leading Tunisian opposition politician who had been critical of the Islamist-led government was fatally shot outside his home in Tunis Wednesday, the government news agency said. |
| Chokri Belaid was shot just as he was leaving his house in the capital city, the state news agency TAP said. | Chokri Belaid was shot just as he was leaving his house in the capital city, the state news agency TAP said. |
| Mr. Belaid, the general secretary of the Democratic Patriotic Party, was one of the leaders of the opposition Popular Front, which had been formed in October to counter the government. | Mr. Belaid, the general secretary of the Democratic Patriotic Party, was one of the leaders of the opposition Popular Front, which had been formed in October to counter the government. |
| Mr. Belaid has emerged as a chief critic of Ennahda, the moderate Islamist party that leads the government in a coalition with two secular parties. While Ennahda has tried to reassure Tunisians that it would respect liberal democratic values and not impose a strict Muslim moral code, it has faced criticism with an indulgent attitude toward the ultraconservative Islamists known as Salafis. | Mr. Belaid has emerged as a chief critic of Ennahda, the moderate Islamist party that leads the government in a coalition with two secular parties. While Ennahda has tried to reassure Tunisians that it would respect liberal democratic values and not impose a strict Muslim moral code, it has faced criticism with an indulgent attitude toward the ultraconservative Islamists known as Salafis. |
| In recent days, Mr. Belaid accused the Islamists of carrying out an attack on a meeting of its members on Saturday. “At the end of our meeting, a group of Ennahda mercenaries and Salafists attacked our activists,” Mr. Belaid said. | In recent days, Mr. Belaid accused the Islamists of carrying out an attack on a meeting of its members on Saturday. “At the end of our meeting, a group of Ennahda mercenaries and Salafists attacked our activists,” Mr. Belaid said. |
| After word of the killing drifted through Tunis, large crowds of protesters gathered outside the Interior Ministry shouting, “Shame, shame Chokri died.” | |
| Samir Dilou, a government spokesman, was quoted as calling the killing an “odious crime.” | Samir Dilou, a government spokesman, was quoted as calling the killing an “odious crime.” |
| No group immediately took responsibility for the shooting and its cause remained unclear. | No group immediately took responsibility for the shooting and its cause remained unclear. |
| It came as Tunisia faces profound social and religious uncertainties following the ouster of a dictatorial regime two years ago that set off what came to be known as the Arab Spring. | It came as Tunisia faces profound social and religious uncertainties following the ouster of a dictatorial regime two years ago that set off what came to be known as the Arab Spring. |