Moderate Islamic party claimed thump victory: Tunisia

TUNIS: Tunisia's moderate Islamic party on Tuesday claimed a thumping victory in the country's first election, sending a message to the region

With election officials still counting ballots from Sunday's vote the first since the uprisings which began in Tunisia and spread through the region the Ennahda party said its own tally showed it won and several of its biggest rivals conceded defeat.

Seeking to reassure secularists in Tunisia and elsewhere who see a threat to their liberal, modernist values, party officials said the party would share power and would not try to push through radical measures.

"There will be no split. There will be continuity because we came to power via democracy, not through tanks," campaign manager Abdelhamid Jlazzi said at party headquarters.