Africa
Protests hit Tunisia amid mourning
Crowd demonstrates in front of the interior ministry, seeking the dissolution
of the new interim government.
Last Modified: 21 Jan 2011 12:09 GMT
Thousands of Tunisians have gathered in front of the country's interior
ministry, demanding the dissolution of the new interim government that assumed
power after the president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, fled the country.
Protesters marched down the Avenue Habib Bourguiba in Tunis, the country's
capital, on Friday morning, chanting anti-government slogans, Al Jazeera's
Yasmine Ryan reported.
Police blocked the protesters at the interior ministry and prepared water
cannons, she said. Protesters soon dispersed, with many heading towards the
headquarters of the main labour union, calling for a general strike.
Later in the day, some police officers joined protesters in a march towards the
prime minister's office, Al Jazeera's Nazinine Moshiri said.
Many Tunisians are angry that several prominent members of Ben Ali's government
have been included in the transitional cabinet, which convened for the first
time on Thursday.
National mourning
The latest protests in the north African country come on the first day of a
three-day period of national mourning for those who died during the month-long
uprising that overthrew Ben Ali.
The mourning is meant to honour the dozens of people who died during widespread
protests and confrontations with security forces who used tear gas and live
ammunition to disperse crowds.
Flags in the country have been set at half mast.
Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin meets the mother of the 26-year-old whose suicide
sparked the uprising
According to the United Nations, about 100 people died during the upheaval that
swept across the north African country.
Protests in Tunisia have continued even after Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on
December 14 and the new interim government offered major concessions.
Tayyib Al Bakouchi, a government spokesman, said the multiparty cabinet pledged
to make security its top priority, to prepare for new presidential elections
and speed up political reforms.
The ministers also vowed to restore goods and real estate appropriated by the
Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD), the ruling party under Ben Ali,
officials said.
The transitional government says 1,800 political prisoners have already been
freed this week.
However, Al Jazeera's Moshiri said it was difficult to ascertain the number of
detainees in the first place.
"We've heard earlier in the day that some Islamist ones belonging to the Muslim
Brotherhood, being kept under Tunisian anti-terror laws, may not have been
freed yet," she said.
Under pressure
Thursday's cabinet session in Tunis coincided with protests by hundreds of
people outside the RCD headquarters, demanding that ministers associated with
the rule of Ben Ali leave the government.
Using a large steel cable, a government employee tore off the Arabic letters of
the party's name from the facade.
Follow Al Jazeera's coverage of the
turmoil in Tunisia
Amid shouts protesting against the transitional government, the crowd
brandished signs reading: "We are no longer afraid of you, traitors," and "RCD
out!"
All ministers of the new cabinet were present in the meeting except five who
resigned earlier this week, refusing to sit in a unity government with RCD
members.
Before the cabinet convened, all of the eight ministers in the new government
who had been members of RCD quit the party, without giving up their cabinet
posts.
The transitional cabinet decided to recognise all banned political parties and
agreed on a general amnesty for all political prisoners.
"The minister of justice presented a bill for a general amnesty, which was
adopted by the cabinet, which decided to submit it to parliament," Ahmed Nejib
Chebbi, the development minister, said.
Asked if the government had decided to lift bans on political groups, including
the Islamist al-Nahda movement, Mohamed Aloulou, the youth minister, said: "We
will recognise all the political movements."
Rachid al-Ghannouchi, the exiled head of al-Nahda, told Al Jazeera earlier this
week that he plans to return to Tunisia.
However, Mohamed Ghannouchi, the interim prime minister, has said al-Ghannouchi
would only be able to do so once the amnesty law is passed because he carries a
life sentence for plots against the state.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
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