Tunisian police fired tear gas to disperse several thousand Islamists trying to force their way into the prime minister's office on Friday, the biggest in a series of clashes that are overshadowing next week's landmark election. Tunisia was the birthplace of the "Arab Spring" uprisings against repressive autocrats, but its election on October 23 has unleashed a sometimes violent debate between Islamists and secularists about what role religion should have in society.
Friday's protest started peacefully, with more than 10,000 people shouting "Allahu Akbar!" or "God is greatest!" and demanding the imposition of Islamic law in Tunisia. It was the largest protest to date by Islamists in the capital. When the crowd approached the Casbah, where caretaker Prime Minister Beji Caid Sebsi has his office, some groups tried to break through police lines, according to a Reuters reporter at the scene. Tunisia electrified the Arab world in January when mass protests overthrew President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. Its revolution inspired uprisings in Egypt, Libya and Yemen that have reshaped the political landscape of the Middle East.
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