28 Jul 2013

State funeral held in Tunis for slain politician

5:14 am on 28 July 2013

A state funeral has been held in Tunisia for opposition leader Mohamed Brahmi who was killed on Thursday by gunmen in the capital, Tunis.

Gunmen on a motorbike shot Mr Brahmi, who led the Movement of the People party, in his car on Thursday.

He was buried on Saturday in the same cemetery as another leading opposition figure, Chokri Belaid, who was shot dead in February.

Interior Minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou earlier said Mr Brahmi, 58, was killed with the same gun as Mr Belaid.

After the ceremony, pro- and anti-government demonstrators gathered outside parliament in central Tunis. Police reportedly used tear gas to disperse them.

Supporters of Mr Brahmi have accused the governing party Ennahda of complicity in the killing. The government has rejected the accusations.

Before the funeral, a policeman was injured when a bomb on a car exploded outside a police station in the La Goulette district of the capital.

On Friday a general strike was called by UGTT, the country's biggest trade union.