Tunisia Industry Minister Mehdi Jomaa to be new PM Saturday Dec 14,2013

Tunisian politicians have agreed on a new prime minister after talks between the ruling Islamist Ennahda party and the opposition

Mehdi's name was one of six put forward for the post by the parties involved in Saturday's negotiations

Mehdi Jomaa, industry minister, will head a caretaker government until elections are held next year

Tunisia has been in crisis since the assassination of two opposition politicians earlier this year.The murders of prominent left-wing figure Chokri Belaid in February and opposition politician Mohammed Brahmi in July led to intensified anti-government protests

The political wrangling that followed has threatened to disrupt a democratic transition that began after Tunisians threw out their decades-old government at the beginning of the 2011 uprisings, widely referred to as the Arab Spring.

The appointment is part of a deal reached on Thursday Dec 12,2013 that will see the moderate Islamists hand over power to end the political deadlock