Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Trouble at funeral of slain politician

Updated at 7:36 am on 9 February 2013

Police and mourners in Tunisia have clashed at the funeral of an opposition leader, who was killed on Wednesday by a gunman.

At least 50,000 people turned out in his home district of Jebel al-Jaloud in the capital.

Trouble erupted near the cemetery as police fired teargas at demonstrators who threw stones and set cars ablaze.

Teargas was also used against protesters near the Interior Ministry.

The BBC reports some 10,000 people also gathered in the city of Sidi Bouzid to mourn Chokri Belaid, 48, a human rights lawyer. In Sfax, crowds ransacked a number of shops on Thursday.

Unions blame the government for the killing, an accusation it denies.

President Moncef Marzouki has cut short a visit to France and cancelled a trip to Egypt to return home to deal with the crisis.

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