Sidi Bouzid clashes after Tunisian elections

The Islamist Ennahda party was officially declared winner of Tunisia's election, setting it up to form an Islamist-led government, as poll violence erupted in the town where the Arab Spring uprisings began.

Ennahda has tried to reassure secularists nervous about the prospect of Islamist rule in one of the Arab world's most liberal countries by saying it will respect women's rights and not try to impose a Muslim moral code on society.

Protesters angry their fourth-placed party had been eliminated from the election set fire to the mayor's office in Sidi Bouzid, where 10 months ago vegetable seller Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in a protest against officialdom.

His act ignited unrest that led to the fall of Tunisia's autocratic leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and inspired uprisings in Egypt, Libya and other Arab states. Ennahda's leader Rachid Ghannouchi paid tribute to the provincial Tunisian town's role in Tunisia's revolution.

"We salute Sidi Bouzid and its sons who launched the spark and we hope that God will have made Mohamed Bouazizi a martyr," said the soft-spoken Islamic scholar, who spent 22 years in exile in Britain.

-Reuters