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Tuesday, Dec 4, 2012 4:30 PM UTC

Pro-government activists attack Tunisia union

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Topics: From the Wires,

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Supporters of Tunisia’s Islamist rulers have attacked members of a major labor union, in the latest sign of unrest in the North African country.

Activists with the General Union of Tunisian Workers were gathering for a march Tuesday in Tunis to commemorate the 1955 assassination of a historic member when they were set upon by the League for Protection of the Revolution.

The league is close to the Ennahda Party, a moderate Islamist group that dominates Tunisia’s post-revolution government. The union, meanwhile, has often opposed the government. One of its branches initiated a five-day general strike last week in the impoverished town of Siliana that forced government concessions.

High unemployment and a slow economy have frustrated Tunisians since they ousted a longtime dictator in January 2011.

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