TUNIS (Reuters) - Thousands of secularist protesters accused Tunisia's Islamist government on Monday of undermining a transition to democracy by failing to stem violence after a secular politician was killed in political violence last week.
Tension has been growing between Islamists and secularists since the Islamist Ennahda Movement won an election after the toppling of secular autocrat Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali last year in the first of the "Arab Spring" uprisings.
A secular politician was killed last Thursday in clashes between secularists and a group of Islamists close to Ennahda in the town of Tataouine.
On Monday, about 5,000 protesters filled Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis, a focal point of last year's revolution, carrying banners that read "No fear, no horror, power belongs to the people", "No to emerging dictatorship .. not for religious dictatorship" and "No political and religious violence".
They also chanted the slogan of the Arab Spring revolutions, "The people want to bring down the regime!".