An opposition party coordinator has died after rival political supporters clashed in the southern Tunisian town of Tataouine.

According to the interior ministry, Lotfi Naguedh, from Call of Tunisia party, died of a heart attack on Thursday after supporters of a rival group attacked his office, AFP reported.

A Call of Tunisia spokesman, however, said that Naguedh died after being beaten, adding that "even if it was a heart attack, it was directly linked to the attack."

Several people were also injured in the clashes.

Call of Tunisia was founded in June by Beji Caid Essebsi, a senior official in the first years of ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's rule, who served as interim premier in the aftermath his ouster last year.


The ruling coalition accuses him of trying to regroup former regime officials and seeking to undermine the government.

The League for the Protection of the Revolution had organized a demonstration in Tataouine, which then marched on the headquarters of a local trade union which Naguedh headed.

The interior ministry said outside the union building, the demonstrators clashed with rival sides and that stones and Molotov cocktails were thrown by both sides.
Press TV