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| Africa North |
| Tunisia ruling coalition in crisis talks with mediators |
| 2013-08-31 |
| [Al Ahram] Tunisia's ruling coalition on Friday met mediators working to end a political crisis sparked by the liquidation of an opposition MP, ahead of planned anti-government protests, an official said. The mediators have been shuttling between the ruling Islamists and the opposition in a bid to end the political turmoil caused by the killing of opposition MP Mohamed Brahmi on July 25, an attack blamed on hardline Salafists ...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them... The mediators comprise representatives of the powerful UGTT trade union along with members of employers' organization UTICA, the Tunisian League for Human Rights and the national order of lawyers. A UGTT official said Friday's meeting involved talks with members of ruling Islamist party Ennahda and its allies Congress for the Republic and Ettakatol. The mediators were due later to hold talks with the umbrella opposition group, the National Salvation Front, which has repeatedly demanded the dissolution of the Ennahda-led government. It has also refused to negotiate directly before a non-partisan cabinet has been formed. Ennahda said this week that it would accept the resignation of Prime Minister Ali Larayedh's cabinet, a step the mediators also favour. But it said that agreement must first be reached on a timetable for fresh elections and the contents of a new constitution, the drafting of which in the national assembly has for month been blocked by political wranglings. |
| Posted by:Fred |