Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fired his interior minister yesterday after a deadly wave of violent unrest, the biggest in decades, reached the capital for the first time.
The 74-year-old Ben Ali — who on Monday accused the rioters of committing acts of terrorism — made a dramatic change of direction by ordering that all those arrested in weeks of clashes with police should be released.
While Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi told a press conference in Tunis that most prisoners arrested during nearly a month of riots were being freed, he also said the release did not apply to those whose guilt has been proven. He did not elaborate.
The prime minister announced the appointment of a new interior minister, Ahmed Friaa, and said the government would form committees to investigate the unrest and claims of corruption.
People taking part in the unrest say they are angry about unemployment, corruption and what they say is a repressive government. Officials said the protests have been hijacked by a minority of violent extremists who want to undermine Tunisia.
The violence has claimed the lives of 23 people around the country, according to an official count. Police repeatedly shot at demonstrators setting fire to buildings and stoning police. Unions and eyewitnesses say at least 46 have died in the unrest.
Soldiers were deployed in the center of Tunis yesterday after the violence flared in the capital for the first time overnight. Armored vehicles rumbled through the streets and troops alighted from trucks to take up positions at major intersections, the headquarters of the state broadcaster, a central tramway station and at the entrance to the Cite Ettadhamen quarter — 5km west of Tunis — where the clashes took place late on Tuesday.
It was the first time troops have deployed in Tunis since unrest broke out in the south of the country in mid-December after a 26-year-old graduate set himself on fire to protest unemployment because police prevented him from selling fruit and vegetables to make a living.
The remains of a bus and cars also torched in the rioting late on Tuesday stood outside government offices attacked by protesters, with broken glass and burnout tires littering the area, an Agence Presse-France reporter said.
Witnesses said groups of young protesters, some shouting “We are not afraid,” burned the bus and looted businesses. Police could be seen firing tear gas at the protesters and shots could be heard, they said.
In the strongest US statement on the violence to date, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington was “deeply concerned by reports of the use of excessive force by the government of Tunisia.”
Social networks like Facebook have helped spread word of the protests.
“When a father can no longer feed his children, he loses his place ... and his dignity,” said Selim Ben Hassen, the Paris-based president of the Byrsa citizens movement. “It’s not just a question of money. It’s a question of honor.”
Ben Hassen credits Facebook for spreading word of the unrest — and bolstering timid citizens to break their traditional code of silence.
“The psychological barrier of fear has fallen,” he said. “People now know it’s possible to go into the streets, cry ‘Freedom!’ and say ‘We don’t want a president for life.”
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