Tunisia was bracing for a third day of violent protests Friday as the country prepares to bury slain opposition politician Chokri Belaid in a climate of tension accentuated by a general strike. Thousands of people are expected at Belaid's funeral in his home Tunis suburb of Jebel Jelloud. A large crowd had already gathered outside the local cultural centre where his body was to be taken from his father's home before being interred in a nearby cemetery.
The charismatic coordinator of the leftist Popular Front coalition was shot dead by an unknown attacker outside his home on Wednesday. The father of two, who had emerged as the government's chief critic in recent months, will receive a state funeral with military honours. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
His family and supporters hold the ruling Islamist Ennahda party responsible for his death, which followed a wave of attacks pro-government militia on the secular opposition. The Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) and four opposition groups have called a general strike to coincide with the funeral.
Local media reported that air traffic and public transport was heavily disrupted. The national carrier Tunisair warned passengers in a statement of likely disruptions to its schedule.
Over the past two days, demonstrators demanding the resignation of the government have clashed with police in Tunis and regional towns. One policeman was killed in riots in the capital Wednesday. Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, who is from Ennahda, has offered to dissolve the tripartite coalition of Ennahda and two secular parties and appoint a technocratic cabinet to run the country until elections.
The opposition welcomed the plan but Jebali's own party opposes it, arguing that the government still needed politicians.