Islamic fundamentalists burn brothels in Tunisia

Tunis Feb.20 (ANI): In an attempt to show force, Islamic fundamentalists burnt down a street of brothels in Tunis.

At least three people were injured, when security forces fired in the air on Friday, to disperse a huge crowd of Islamists protesting against a brothel in the capital.

A large number of Islamists had rallied outside the building of the Interior Ministry after the Friday prayers, calling for the closure of the brothels before marching to Abdallah Guech Street, which housed them.

The incident was the latest sign of Islamists organizing in Tunis, the only Arab country with legal prostitution, after an uprising led President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country last month, the Telegraph reports.

Mourad Barhoumi, a Tunis resident and a witness to the demonstration said: "Almost 500 Islamists, many wearing beards, were demonstrating in Old Medina to demand the closure of a brothel."

"There were several dozen riot police who shut off entry to the neighborhood. They fired in the air to break up the crowd, which didn't want to go until the brothel was shut," he added.

It was the third brothel shut by the movement in recent weeks.

Tunisia has plunged into turmoil after one man's self-immolation in a protest against the authorities sparked a revolt that led President Ben Ali to flee to Saudi Arabia last month and encouraged a similar revolution in Egypt. (ANI)