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Tunisia’s leader refuses to step down

TUNIS — Tunisia’s prime minister rejected opposition demands that his government step down and promised on Monday to complete the country’s democratic transition with a new constitution by August and elections in December.

The assassination of two opposition legislators over the last six months has plunged Tunisia — the birthplace of the Arab Spring — into a crisis with antigovernment protests, the resignation of a Cabinet minister, and a walkout by dozens of lawmakers.

The standoff was given extra urgency by a bloody ambush that took place Monday in a mountainous region near the Algerian border known as a hideout for Islamic militants that left at least nine soldiers dead, according to a local hospital.

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Prime Minister Ali Larayedh’s fiery speech, in which he called those wanting to dissolve the government ‘‘anarchists’’ and ‘‘opportunists,’’ is unlikely to appease an angry opposition that says the Islamist-led government has failed to carry out the political transition promised after the overthrow of Tunisia’s dictator in January 2011.

Tunisia was considered the best hope for democracy in the region — until its current crisis. On Thursday, left-wing Tunisian politician Mohammed Brahmi was assassinated in Tunis, shot 14 times outside his home in front of his family. That followed the killing of another left-wing opposition legislator, Chokri Belaid, in February.

Associated Press