16 March 2012

Tunisian protesters demand Islamic state

.... Asked what sharia law meant in practice, Mona al-Malki said: "We would not amputate a thief's hand. No, we would cut off the reasons he has to steal. We would not beat an adulterer, we would stop adultery. We cannot implement sharia to the letter."

Secular critics fear a gradual encroachment of ever stricter rules, however. They want Ennahda to rein in religious zealots.

One taxi driver, speeding away from the protest, said he had stopped taking passengers with beards or niqab as they kept demanding he turn off the music he plays on his radio. [The Daily Star] Read more