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Protesters Force Tunisia Leaders from Slain Police Ceremony
[An Nahar] Angry members of the security forces on Friday drove Tunisia's President Moncef Marzouki and Prime Minister Ali Larayedh away from a memorial ceremony for two slain policeman, an Agence La Belle France Presse photographer said.The security force members, some of them in uniform, shouted "Get out" at the Tunisian leaders, obliging them to leave the official ceremony at the military barracks in the Tunis suburb of L'Aouina. Marzouki and Larayedh, as well as parliamentary speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar, left after about 20 minutes of jeers from the crowd, without any of them addressing the gathering. "We won't accept the presence of politicians," shouted one of the protesters, who carried placards demanding laws to protect the police. Only the interior minister, Lotfi Ben Jeddou, was able to attend the ceremony for the two men killed on Thursday by an gang in the Neja region, 70 kilometers (40 miles) west of Tunis. "We are all against terrorism. This is a war, and we will not give up," he said in a brief speech. Earlier, the interior ministry front man said security forces had killed several members of the group suspected of carrying out Thursday's attack, which also left one policeman maimed. Security force unions have organized several demonstrations in recent months to condemn the lack of resources made available to battle Tunisia's jihadist movement, which has been on the rise since the 2011 revolution. Posted by: Fred 2013-10-19 |
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