No sharia law for Tunisia

The moderate Islamist Ennahda party, which leads Tunisia’s government, will not back calls by conservatives to make Islamic law, or sharia, the main source of legislation in a new constitution, a senior party official has said.

Ameur Larayed told Radio Mosaique: “We want the unity of our people and we do not want divisions.”

An assembly is creating a new constitution as part of Tunisia’s transition after the ousting of authoritarian leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali last year.