(Adds details, background)
By Tarek Amara
TUNIS, Oct 30 (Reuters) – One person was killed when police
opened fire during clashes with hardline Salafi Muslims in the
Tunisian capital Tunis on Tuesday, a security source
said , in the latest sign of religious tensions in the home
of the “Arab Spring”.
“One Salafi was killed after security forces fired when
Salafists attacked a police station,” a security source said.
Tunisia, whose authoritarian president, Zine El Abidine Ben
Ali, was overthrown in a popular uprising last year, now has an
elected Islamist-led government.
The struggle over the role of religion in government and
society has since emerged as the most divisive issue in the
North African nation, which for decades was considered one of
the most secular countries in the Arab world.
“The security forces fired bullets and teargas .. They are
pursuing Salafi elements in the neighbourhood of Khaled Ibn Al
Waleed in the area of Dawar Hicher,” a resident, who gave his
name as Hadi, said.
Hundreds of Salafists attacked Tuesday night a police
station in Dawar Hicher to protest the arrest of a Salafist
accused of attacking a police chief with a knife.
Tension has been growing between Islamists and secularists
since the Islamist Ennahda Movement won an election last year.
Ennahdha, a moderate Islamic group, formed a coalition with
two non-religious parties and has promised not to ban alcohol,
impose the veil or use sharia as the basis of Tunisian law.
It is under pressure from both hardline Salafi Muslims
calling for the introduction of Islamic law and secular
opposition parties determined to prevent this.
Clashes broke out between alcohol sellers and Salafi
Muslims in Tunis on Saturday, wounding a police commander.
(Reporting By Tarek Amara; Editing by Michael Roddy and Jason
Webb)
