Tunisia's president made it clear his forces would
no longer use lethal force against demonstrators
Demonstrators are gathering for a march
through the centre of the Tunisian capital,
Tunis, as pressure mounts on President
Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
On Thursday night, Mr Ben Ali - who has
governed Tunisia since 1987 - announced he
would stand down in 2014.
His speech came after weeks of protests which
have left at least 23 dead.
Opposition parties gave a cautious welcome to
the news. Trade unions have called on people to
observe a general strike on Friday.
Human rights groups say more than 60 people
have died in weeks of unrest across the country,
as security forces responded to people protesting
over corruption, unemployment levels and high
food prices.
Demands for reform
The BBC's Adam Mynott in Tunis says early
indications are that many people in Tunis have
heeded the unions' call to protest.
In his speech on Thursday night, Mr Ben Ali said
there was "no presidency for life" in Tunisia.
However, our correspondent says there is a
degree of scepticism as to whether deeds will
follow on from words.
Mr Ben Ali, 74, is only Tunisia's second president
since independence from France in 1956. He was
last re-elected in 2009 with 89.62% of the vote.
In his speech, he said he did not intend to amend
the constitution to remove the upper age limit for
presidential candidates, which would have
allowed him to stand for a further term in 2014.
The president, who earlier this week had blamed
the unrest on "terrorists", also said he felt "very,
very deep and massive regret" over the deaths of
civilians in the protests.
He said he had ordered troops to stop firing on
protesters except in self defence, and pledged to
take action on food prices, which have gone up
fourfold in recent weeks.
Afterwards, Mr Ben Ali's supporters took to the
streets of Tunis, cheering and sounding car
horns.
In a further overture, foreign minister Kamel
Mourjane said it would be possible to form a
government of national unity involving the
opposition.
Speaking to France's Europe 1 radio on Friday, he
also held out the possibility of early parliamentary
elections.
Tunisia's main opposition leader, Najib Chebbi,
called the president's announcement "very good",
but said he was awaiting "concrete details".
Mustapha Ben Jaafar, head of the Democratic
Forum for Work and Liberties, said the speech
"opens up possibilities".
But human rights activist Mohamed Abbou said
he believed President Ben Ali was "fooling the
Tunisians with promises that have no
tomorrow".
The protests began in mid-December in the
southern town of Sidi Bouzid, after an
unemployed graduate set himself on fire when
police tried to prevent him from selling vegetables
without a permit. He died a few weeks later.
Source: Http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12189535
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