1 dead as rival groups clash in Tunisia

An opposition party coordinator in the southern town of Tataouine died Thursday as his supporters clashed with those of the Islamist-led government, his Call of Tunisia party and the interior ministry said. A party official told AFP that Lotfi Naguedh died after being beaten by pro-government demonstrators who attacked his office. Interior ministry spokesman Khaled Tarrouche confirmed the violence but said Naguedh had died of a heart attack. A Call of Tunisia spokesman retorted: "Even if it was a heart attack, it was directly linked to the attack." The party was founded in June by Beji Caid Essebsi, a senior official in the first years of ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's rule, who served as interim premier in the aftermath of the veteran strongman's ouster last year. The ruling coalition accuses him of regrouping former regime officials and seeking to undermine the government. The League for the Protection of the Revolution, a grouping close to the ruling coalition, had called the demonstration on Thursday which then marched on the headquarters of a local trade union which Naguedh headed. Outside the union building, the demonstration degenerated into clashes between the rival sides in which stones and Molotov cocktails were thrown by both sides, the interior ministry said. Call of Tunisia insisted the violence came solely from the pro-government demonstrators. Both the party and the ministry said several people were injured.