Tunisians protest as political crisis deepens

Thousands of Tunisians have marched through their capital, calling for the government to resign as the nations political crisis deepens.Saturdays march was the culmination of a week of protests organised by a coalition of opposition groups known as the National Salvation Front (NSF), calling for the resignation of the government and the dissolution of the assembly elected in 2011 to write the constitution.It attracted fewer people than two similar protests held earlier this month - 10,000, according to police estimates.The assassination of an opposition politician in July, the second in six months, has sharply polarised the country and prompted a walkout by about 60 opposition assembly members.The powerful UGTT trade union, which has been mediating talks between the government and the NSF, on Saturday presented the governments latest proposals on resolving the crisis.But after the meeting, Hamma Hammami, a representative of the opposition, said the group had replied to the ruling coalitions proposals and that the key to ending the crisis is in the [governments] hands.Government must fallHammami refused to elaborate on the proposals, except to confirm reports that they envisaged a change of government by September 29 at the latest, after a month of national dialogue on the new cabinet and the future constitution.But the NSF, a wide umbrella group of opposition parties, has repeatedly demanded the immediate resignation of the governing coalition, led by the moderate Islamist movement Ennahda.