Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Poetic Obituaries: In addition, [Chokri] Belaid was a burgeoning

poet before devoting himself to politics. He often quoted the literary tradition at will and spoke flawless Arabic. For these reasons, he could not be accused of being the traditional uprooted Francophile secularist or the customary dogmatic Marxist.

And like in life, his tragic death also had poetic overtones. His assassination was foretold in more than the many threats he received, publicly and in private, and as a poet, he is best remembered for a poem dedicated to Husain Muruwa, the Lebanese intellectual assassinated by Islamists in the late 1990s.

from Think Africa Press: The Poet and Politician: Who was Chokri Belaid?

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