Tunisia govt under pressure after crackdown

Tunisia’s interior minister is to face questions in parliament after Monday’s police crackdown on protesters prompted a public outcry and raised pressure on the Islamist-led government.Police used tear gas and batons to disperse stone-throwing protesters who stormed Tunis’ Habib Bourguiba Avenue on Monday, in defiance of a ban on rallies in a street that was a focal point of protests that ousted Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali last year.The protests descended into some of the worst clashes since the revolution, with at least a dozen protesters and eight police wounded.The fallout has presented the government, led by the moderate Islamist Ennahda in coalition with two secular groups, one of the biggest challenges of its four-month rule.Politicians and activists from the secular opposition have compared the police tactics to Ben Ali’s police state, when freedom was severely curtailed. Some labelled it “Black Monday”.Even the president and the parliament speaker, both coalition allies of Ennahda, have called for an inquiry, a demand echoed by the Islamist party itself on Tuesday.Parliament Speaker Mustafa Ben Jafar set a session for Thursday to discuss the “acts of violence” that he said had also seen members of parliament get physically hurt.“We condemn the use of violence against peaceful protests and regard this as a dangerous breach of human rights and a violation of public and individual liberties,” the Tunisian League of Human Rights, which took part in the protest, said in a statement.