LOC23:40
20:40 GMT
TUNIS, Aug 5 (KUNA) -- The Tunisian security services used tear gas and
rubber bullets to disperse protesters in front of the office of the provincial
ruler of central governorate of Sidi Bouzid on Monday.
The demonstrators, who have been staging a sit-in protest at the site since
the assassination of the opposition MP Mohamed Brahmi on July 25, barred the
provincial ruler from office; they press for sacking the government and
dissolving the Constituent Assembly.
The tensions ran high the area after ending the sit-in as the protesters
gathered downtown Sidi Bouzid and chanted the same slogans of the sit-in.
Meanwhile, several protest marches were staged in several parts of the
country after the 'iftar' (evening breakfast for Muslims), calling for
bringing to justice the assassins of Brahmi as well as eight soldiers in
separate terrorist attacks at the central Chaambi Mount in the last few days.
In a related development Interim President Moncef Marzouki received leaders
of several political parties here today to discuss the current stifling crisis.
The meeting gathered chairman of Call of Tunisia Party and former prime
minister Beji Caid Sebsi, former prime minister Hamed Karoui and leader of the
coalition partner Ennahda Movement Rachid Ghannouchi. (end)
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KUNA 052340 Aug 13NNNN