The Corner

Tunisia: Some Portents

This demonstration in Tunis (report from AFP; extract follows) obviously reflects growing unease: 

 

 TUNIS — Hundreds of Tunisians demonstrated Saturday for a secular state following the murder of a Polish priest, verbal attacks on Jews and an attempt by Islamists to set light to a brothel. Rallied by a call on social network Facebook, they gathered in the main Avenue Bourguiba in Tunis waving placards reading, “Secularism = Freedom and Tolerance” and “Stop Extremist Acts”.

 

“We’ve called this demonstration to show that Tunisia is a tolerant country which rejects fanaticism and to strengthen secularism in practice and in law,” blogger Sofiane Chourabi, 29, said.

 

Police stood by as military helicopters circled overhead.

 

Earlier Saturday the Tunisian authorities and the country’s main Islamist movement denounced the murder of the priest who was found dead in the country with his throat slit. Marek Rybinski, 34, was found dead Friday in the garage of the private religious school in the Manouba region near the capital where he was responsible for the accounting.

 

“The ministry of religious affairs condemns this criminal act and calls on all men of religion and civil society to act with determination to prevent such acts happening again,” the ministry said in a statement carried by news agency TAP…

 

 

And then there’s this (via AP):

 

Nearly 100 Egyptians have arrived in Italy in two boats, international migration officials said Wednesday, as fears rose about a wave of people trying to reach Europe because of turmoil in the Arab world…More than 5,330 Tunisians have already arrived the Italian island of Lampedusa, off the coast of Africa.

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