Tunisia’s Islamists attack union activists

Tunisia’s Islamists attack union activists
5 December, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Supporters of Tunisia’s ruling Islamist party on Tuesday attacked a demonstration by the country’s main labor union, in the latest unrest two years after the revolution.

Several dozen assailants attacked members of the General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT) who were gathered outside the union’s headquarters in Tunis to mark the 60th anniversary of the assassination of its founder, Farhat Hached.

The police intervened to separate the two sides, but 10 demonstrators were wounded in the attack, according to the trade union.

The interior ministry confirmed clashes had taken place between trade unionists and members of the League for the Protection of the Revolution.

In October, an opposition party accused the League, which claims as its mission to protect the aims of the revolution that toppled former dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, of beating a party official to death.

UGTT secretary general Houcine Abassi blamed the “enemies of democracy” for Tuesday’s violence and denounced what he said was an unprecedented attack against his organization.

“They want to assassinate the UGTT on the day that it commemorates the assassination of Hached, who sacrificed his life for his people and his country,” Abassi told private radio station Shems FM.

He said such an attack had never been witnessed before, “neither during the time of (Tunisia’s first president Habib) Bourguiba, nor of Ben Ali.”

The League hit back, accusing the UGTT of provoking the clashes by attacking its members with batons when they tried to participate peacefully in the demonstration.

“Whenever there is a protest by the left, they insult us, they insult the government and al-Nahda, even though no one has touched them. The reality is that they (leftist groups) are professional criminals,” the group said on its Facebook page.

Rights organizations such as The Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH) and the National Union of Journalists are to hold urgent meetings to discuss the implications of the incident. …more