Tunisia sets interim government to end standoff

TUNIS, Tunisia, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Reformers and Tunisia's ruling Islamist party have agreed on appointees to lead an independent caretaker government ahead of new elections, officials said.

The ruling Ennahda party, a moderate Islamist group, agreed to step down after weeks of political unrest following the assassinations of two prominent secular leftists by suspected extremists, the BBC said Saturday.

Tunisians tossed out their former authoritarian government in 2011 at the beginning of the Arab Spring. Since then, elections were held and Ennahda rose to power, though many in the traditionally secular nation have expressed their displeasure with Muslim law being enforced in the country.

A group of political independents acceptable to both sides will run the country while new elections are organized.