TUNIS — Tunisia prepared to unveil a new
government of national unity on Monday as
interim leaders struggled to impose order
following the ouster of president Zine El Abidine
Ben Ali.
The government is set to include ministers from
the old regime, members of the opposition and
independent figures, an opposition leader said.
Presidential and parliamentary elections are set to
be held in two months.
Opposition leader Maya Jribi told AFP earlier that
the executive would exclude forces loyal to Ben
Ali, who resigned and fled to Saudi Arabia on
Friday after 23 years in power amid a wave of
protests against his regime.
Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi, a former
close ally of Ben Ali, was set to stay on. Speaker
of parliament Foued Mebazaa has taken over as
interim president in the wake of Ben Ali's abrupt
departure with backing from the army.
Government talks with legal political parties --
excluding the Communist and Islamist parties
banned under Ben Ali -- were held on Sunday as
fierce gun battles broke out in Tunis and near the
presidential palace in Carthage.
The army fought with members of Ben Ali's
presidential guard near the palace late on Sunday
during dusk-to-dawn curfew hours in Carthage --
a wealthy suburb and archaeological site north of
Tunis city centre on the Mediterranean coast.
The army said two gunmen were shot dead near
the interior ministry in central Tunis and two
more were arrested. Police officers told AFP that
eight people were wounded in the fighting in
Tunis and taken to hospital.
The outcome of the gunfight near the palace was
not immediately clear.
"The old regime is trying to sow panic in the
population," Mustapha Ben Ahmed, a trade
unionist walking on an avenue in the centre, said
on Monday.
"That bastard Ben Ali ran away and left the
country to burn," he said.
The prime minister has vowed there will be "zero
tolerance" for anyone threatening the security of
the country after the authorities arrested the
former head of Ben Ali's guard for allegedly
plotting against the state.
Ben Ali's nephew, Kais Ben Ali, has also been
arrested along with 10 other people in the central
town of Msaken -- the Ben Ali family's ancestral
home -- for allegedly "shooting at random" from
police cars.
Ben Ali's ouster has sent shockwaves around the
Arab world as he is the first Arab leader in recent
history to be forced out by street protests.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on
Sunday downplayed prospects of the revolt
spreading to other Arab countries, calling it
"nonsense".
There have been four attempted public suicides in
Algeria in the past week in apparent copycat
replays of last month's self-immolation of a 26-
year-old graduate in Tunisia which triggered the
revolt against Ben Ali.
Tunisia has been in a state of chaos since Ben Ali's
downfall, and observers warned that change in
the North African state would be far from smooth
because of the tightly-controlled system of power
put in place by the former leader.
A few cafes and groceries re-opened on Monday
in the centre of Tunis -- the scene of violent
clashes in the days running up to Ben Ali's flight
-- as security forces continued their lockdown of
the city centre.
Interim president Mebazaa said at the weekend
that all Tunisians "without exception" would now
be able to take part in national politics and called
for a unity government for "the greater national
interest".
Secular leftist Moncef Marzouki declared his
intention Monday to compete for the presidency.
Human rights groups say dozens of people were
killed after food protests which began last month
escalated into a popular revolt against Ben Ali.
International powers including European nations
and the United States have urged calm in Tunisia
and called for democracy in the Mediterranean
country after events that Tunisian bloggers have
dubbed the "Jasmine Revolution".
Source: Http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gDhEKPUhTKOc2679FNNA3sw8PIsA?docId=CNG.099a7790fcca8af10af7cf8da781d7e7.201
0 comments:
Post a Comment