Tunisia Islamists win vote,clashes follow

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 to 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.

Ghannouchi paid tribute to the provincial 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 has spent 22 years in exile in Britain.

Announcing the results,election commission members said Ennahda had won 90 seats in the 217-seat assembly,which will draft a new constitution,form an interim government and schedule new elections,probably for early 2013.

The Islamists’ nearest rival,the secularist Congress for the Republic,won 30 seats,the commission members said in the capital,ending a four-day wait since Sunday’s poll.

Protesters in Sidi Bouzid were angered officials had cancelled seats won by the Popular Listover alleged campaign violations. The party is popular in the town. They have set fire to a large part of the mayor’s office,and the police are nowhere to be seen,local resident Mehdi Horcheni told Reuters by telephone from the town.