German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle pledged Tuesday further investment and aid for Tunisia if it stays on track in turning its Arab Spring revolution into a democratic success story. Westerwelle, representing Europe's top economy, was the first Western minister to meet Prime Minister Ali Larayedh since the moderate Islamist took office on Thursday amid continued unrest in the north African country.

Several thousand people demonstrated on Saturday on the 40th day of mourning after the murder of opposition leader Chokri Belaid, a critic of the ruling Islamists whose death plunged Tunisia into turmoil. People began gathering in the cemetery in southern Tunis where Belaid is buried. He was gunned down outside his home on February 6 in a killing blamed by the authorities on radical Islamists, denying any involvement. Several arrests in the case have been made, but the suspected killer remains at large.

By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian lawmakers voted on Friday to have a draft constitution ready by the end of April and hold elections by December at the latest, steps meant to rescue a faltering democratic transition in the country that launched the Arab Spring. The agreed timeline could ease tensions festering since the February 6 assassination by suspected radical Islamists of secular opposition leader Chokri Belaid, and encourage local and foreign investors needed to hoist Tunisia out of economic crisis.

Ali Larayedh became Tunisia's new Islamist premier on Thursday, taking over from his predecessor Hamadi Jebali and faced with the task of ending a political and economic crisis gripping the country. Speaking at the swearing in ceremony at the prime minister's office, Larayedh said his cabinet would listen to "the concerns of the nation and the people."