The widow of murdered Tunisian opposition activist Chokri Belaid urged authorities on Tuesday to pursue those who allegedly ordered her husband's killing, following the arrest of a suspect. "It is good to know who carried it out, but for me it is very important to know who ordered it... because this was a very well-organised crime," Basma Belaid told France's Europe 1 radio during a visit to Paris. "We are asking for a trial, for further investigation, for everything to be known," she said.

Police fired tear gas and clashed with protesters on Friday as tens of thousands joined the funeral of opposition leader Chokri Belaid whose murder plunged Tunisia into new post-revolt turmoil. Skirmishes erupted on the margins of the funeral procession which turned into a demonstration in Tunis, a city paralysed by a general strike called in protest at Wednesday's assassination of the leftist leader. The interior ministry said 132 people were arrested and estimated the size of the funeral crowd at 40,000.

A huge crowd took part on Friday in the funeral procession of murdered opposition leader Chokri Belaid in southern Tunis, with angry mourners shouting anti-government slogans, AFP journalists reported. The army was deployed and helicopters circled overhead as more than 10,000 people massed along the 3.5 kilometre (2 mile) route that bore Belaid's coffin as it was transported to the El-Jellaz cemetery from the Djebel Jelloud district. Hundreds more gathered in the surrounding streets.

Thousands of people massed on Friday in the Tunisian capital to take part in the funeral of murdered opposition leader Chokri Belaid, due to take place early afternoon, AFP journalists reported. The growing crowd of around 3,000 mourners gathered outside a public building in the Tunis district of Djebel Jelloud, where Belaid's coffin lay covered in flowers. The funeral procession is due to make its way to the nearby cemetery of El-Jellaz where Belaid, who was shot dead outside his home on Wednesday by a lone gunman, is to be buried.