Tunisia to bury murdered leader, protests expected

Tunisia faces a general strike with tens of thousands expected to take to the streets after the murder this week of a leftist opposition leader sparked violent clashes with police.

The General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT) called the strike to coincide with the funeral of Shokri Belaid, a lawyer and vocal critic of the ruling Ennahda party who was shot dead outside his home on Wednesday by a lone gunman.

The strike call from Tunisia's most powerful trade union comes after the murder triggered demonstrations in both the capital, Tunis, and the central mining region of Gafsa, amid a deepening political crisis.

Belaid will be buried after weekly prayers in the Muslim country, where a long-established secular tradition has been countered by the rise of one of the region's most powerful Islamist parties.

The strike comes on the back of Ennahda rejecting Prime Minister Hamdi Jebali's proposal to dissolve the government and install a cabinet of technocrats in a bid to restore calm after Shokri's assassination.

The US has urged Tunisian leaders to come together to resolve the tensions and called for calm.

"There's no place for violence in Tunisia's democracy," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters on Thursday.

"It won't resolve the issues that Tunisians face, and it's not an appropriate response to murder. It's only going to bring more violence."

As the protests intensified, four Tunisian opposition groups, including the Popular Front, of which the Belaid's Democratic Patriots is a component, announced they were pulling out of the national assembly.

Moncef Marzouki, the Tunisian president, cut short a visit to France and said he would fight those who opposed the political transition in his country.

The assassination comes as Tunisia is struggling to maintain stability and revive its economy after its longtime leader was overthrown in an uprising two years ago.

No one has claimed responsibility for the killing of Belaid, who had accused authorities of not doing enough to stop violence by ultraconservatives who have targeted mausoleums, art exhibits and other things seen as out of keeping with their strict interpretation of Islam.

The first political assassination in Tunisia since the Arab Spring uprising in 2011, Belaid was shot dead at close range on his way to work. The attacker fled on the back of a motorcycle.

Thousands of people later rallied outside the interior ministry, many chanting slogans urging the government to stand down and calling for a new revolution.

In the centre of Tunis, a police officer was killed during clashes between police and opposition supporters protesting against Belaid's death.

Belaid was a respected human rights lawyer, and a left-wing secular opponent of the government which took power after the overthrow of long-serving ruler Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

Current President Moncef Marzouki said the assassination should not affect Tunisia's revolution, cutting short a visit to France and cancelling a trip to Egypt to return home to deal with the crisis.