One person dies, 12 injured in fire at Tunisian Ennahda party HQ

By Tarek Amara

TUNIS (Reuters) – One person died after he set himself on fire at the headquarters of Tunisia’s Ennahda Islamist party on Thursday, causing 12‮ ‬injuries including ‮Ali Larayedh, a former prime minister‬, the country’s civil protection agency and judicial authorities‮ ‬said.

Ennahda said one of its members was killed in the fire but did not give details.

Tunis court said the person that died in the fire is the man who set himself ablaze inside the main headquarters of Ennahda.

Rached Ghannouchi, head of the party, told reporters, “This is a martyr of marginalization and poverty. He is one of the Ennahda sons. He spent 10 years in prison against the dictatorship before the revolution.” Ghannouchi added that the dead man obtained recognition from the state of his rights, but did not receive any compensation

Two senior party officials were among the injured in the blaze at the building in the capital, Tunis, according to Ennahda members and witnesses.

One was Larayedh, who was injured when he jumped to safety from a second-floor window. Another was AbdelKarim Harouni, they said.

Ennahda, Tunisia’s biggest party in parliament, was suspended by President Kais Saied on July.25.

The Arab Spring – a wave of protests calling for more democracy across the Arab world – was famously sparked in Tunisia 11 years ago when a street vendor set himself on fire.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara; Writing by Yasmin Hussein, Ahmad Elhamy and Yomna Ehab; Editing by David Goodman, Frances Kerry and Mark Porter)