Tunisia's opposition alliance on Monday called for country-wide protests next week, accusing ruling Islamists of holding up the start of negotiations and delaying the formation of a new government.

Political activity has ground to a halt in Tunisia since the murder of opposition MP Mohammed Brahmi in July, amid a bitter standoff between the ruling Islamist party Ennahda and the opposition.

Tunisian security forces and suspected jihadists have clashed near Mount Chaambi, a stronghold near the Algerian border of militants linked to al-Qaida, a security source said Saturday.

"The clash took place last night (Friday) as an anti-terrorist brigade moved in to arrest jihadists at Karma" in the Kasserine area, the source told Agence France Presse.

Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri on Friday said moderate Islamists in Egypt and Tunisia were in part responsible for their recent political setbacks, accusing them of having been too conciliatory.

A 16-minute audiotape of Zawahiri released on jihadist forums focused on his native Egypt, where he said military-backed authorities were waging war on Islam at the behest of Israel and the United States.

A Tunisian filmmaker who threw an egg at a minister received a suspended five-month sentence Friday while charges were dropped against the videographer who filmed the incident, their lawyer said.

"Nasreddine Shili was sentenced to five months in prison, suspended, while the charges against Mourad Mehrezi were dismissed," their lawyer Koutheir Bouallegue told Agence France Presse.

Amnesty International on Tuesday demanded those responsible for widespread torture practiced under Tunisia's ousted former regime be brought to justice, after uncovering the details of a 25-year-old victim.

Faysal Baraket, a student and member of the Islamist party Ennahda, which was banned by former strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, was arrested in 1991 after criticizing the authorities in a television interview.

Two Tunisian musicians appeared in court Monday over their alleged role in clashes with the police at the trial of a fellow rapper, while a journalist implicated in the same case was absent.

Aymen Feki and Moustapha Fakhfakh, as well as the French-Tunisian journalist Hind Meddeb, are charged with abusing public officials and attacks on public morals, crimes punishable by jail terms of one year and six months respectively.

The number of Tunisian women traveling to Syria to wage "sex jihad" by comforting Islamists fighting the regime is very low, a senior interior ministry official told Agence France Presse on Sunday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, seemed to play down previous government statements that suggested "sex jihad" was more widespread.

Tunisia's ruling Islamist party agreed Saturday to stand down at the end of October by signing a roadmap with the opposition for a government of independents to be formed within three weeks.

The document, drawn up by four mediators, foresees the nomination of an independent prime minister by the end of next week, who would then have two weeks to form a cabinet.

The launch of a hard-won dialogue between Tunisia's ruling Islamists and the opposition to end a protracted political crisis was in jeopardy Saturday because of a last-minute dispute, delegates said.

The dispute emerged as delegates started to gather at the Palais des Congres for a symbolic ceremony during which the ruling Ennahda movement was to declare its readiness to resign.

Fifty-four Tunisian pilgrims are refusing to leave Tunis airport and are demanding to be allowed to travel to Mecca after they were stopped with fake Gambian passports, members of the group said Friday.

Saudi Arabia allocates quotas to countries to limit the number of people making the annual Muslim pilgrimage, and there is a long waiting list in Tunisia, where such scams are relatively common.