In Tunisia, popular Ennahda party tests ‘moderate’ Islam

Nearly a year after Tunisia set off the Arab Spring of popular
revolt, the face of political Islam in this fledgling Muslim democracy
is a 47-year-old pharmaceutical executive who favors tailored suits and
stiletto heels.

Souad Abderrahim's main political experience was
as a student union leader more than two decades ago, but the political
neophyte is now cheered at rallies and trailed by the media as a leader
of Ennahda, the Islamist party that has become the main political force
in this North African country.

Abderrahim holds a seat in the
country's new Constituent Assembly, charged with creating a democratic
political structure following the downfall of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali,
who ruled Tunisia for nearly a quarter century.