1 dead, 42 lawmakers resign after killing of opposition leader

One protester has died and dozens of national assembly members have resigned in the run-up to the funeral of an assassinated Tunisian leader, officials say. The protester died during an anti-government demonstration in the southern city of Gafsa sparked by the shooting death of Mohamed Brahmi, The Independent reported Saturday. A bomb destroyed a police car in the area, but no one was injured. Brahmi, 58, leader of the secular Movement of the People party, was killed outside his home in Tunis Thursday and was to be buried Saturday. Brahmi's family has blamed the Islamist ruling party, Ennahda, for his death. The party's leader, Rachel Ghannouchi, had denied the accusation, charging Brahmi's death was an attack on democracy. On Friday, 42 members of opposition parties resigned from the 217-seat Constituent Assembly to protest Brahmi's death, calling for Prime Minister Ali Larayedh to dissolve the assembly and form a national salvation government. Interior Minister Lotti Ben Jeddou said the weapon used to kill Brahmi was the same used in the death of Chokri Belaid, the leader of the Popular Front who was killed in February. Supporters of Ennahda predict the party will survive the turmoil and gain more votes in the next election, The New York Times reported. "People on the left accuse us of being with the jihadists, and the Salafists accuse us of being a party that is not connected to Islam," said Munir Argoubi, an Ennahda activist. "That makes us happy. It means we are in the middle, where we want to be."