Sunday, February 06, 2011

Tunisia Regime Takes Steps to Halt "Security Breakdown"

Tunisia takes steps to halt "security breakdown"

By Tarek Amara
TUNIS | Sun Feb 6, 2011 3:20pm EST

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia suspended activities of the former ruling party on Sunday, saying it acted to prevent a breakdown in security after some of the worst unrest since the president was ousted in a revolt last month.

Security officials in the coalition government put in place after President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia have said there is a conspiracy by officials close to the old administration to spread chaos and take back power.

The latest in several days of clashes that have raised questions about whether Tunisia is returning to stability after Ben Ali's departure. One man was killed during a protest and there were clashes with security forces in two other towns.

"The minister of the interior has decided to suspend all activities and all meetings of the RCD (former ruling party) and to close down all its offices pending a judicial decision on its dissolution," said an Interior Ministry source.

"(This is being done) because there is an extreme need and in order to prevent a breakdown of general security and to protect the higher interests of the country," said the source, who declined to be named.

Security officials had earlier suggested that functionaries from the party -- which was Ben Ali's power base but is now shunned by those in power -- were involved in attempts to destabilize the country.

HALTING PROGRESS

Tunisia's uprising against Ben Ali's authoritarian rule inspired protest movements elsewhere in the Arab world, including in Egypt, and its halting progress toward a more democratic system is being watched closely in the region.

Stability has gradually been returning to the country of 10 million after weeks of unrest before Ben Ali fled and several days of lawlessness afterwards.

However, there has been a fresh flare-up of violence and protests in the past few days.

The Interior Ministry source said a man died after being hit by a tear gas grenade during clashes in Kebili, about 400 km (250 miles) south of Tunis, between police and protesters angry at the appointment of a new regional governor.

There were renewed clashes in the northern town of El Kef, where on Saturday two people died when police opened fire to quell a protest.

Young men there on Sunday set fire to a police station and tried to march to the town prison before the military intervened to stop them, the official TAP news agency reported.

The news agency also reported that in the town of Gafsa, in central Tunisia, soldiers had to evacuate a newly-appointed regional governor in one of their vehicles after his office came under siege by protesters.

The protests over new regional governors are likely to worry the government because they were appointed in response to popular pressure for a purge of Ben Ali loyalists.

In the other violent incident of the past few days, townspeople in Sidi Bouzid protested after two men locked up inside a police station there were killed on Friday when the building caught fire.

(Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Jon Hemming)


Fresh violence erupts in Tunisia

Death reported in a southern town as protesters continue to demand dismissal of officials associated with old regime

Last Modified: 06 Feb 2011 20:46 GMT

Fresh anti-government protests have erupted across Tunisia, with one young man dying during clashes in the south of the country.

A police headquarters was set ablaze and army troops deployed in the northwestern town of Kef.

In a separate development on Sunday, Fahrat Rajhi, the new interior minister, suspended all activities of the country's former ruling party, the RCD, according to a statement carried by the official TAP news agency.

Rajhi intends to seek the party's dissolution, the statement said.

Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri, reporting from Tunis, said that the move was made for what the government is terming "security reasons", as many "people are blaming RCD members for violence ... and looting".

Protesters have demanded the dismissal of officials who were closely associated with the government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the former president, who was ousted by a popular revolt three weeks ago.

Kebili death

The fatality was reported in the southern town of Kebili afer he was hit by a tear-gas canister during clashes with security forces on Saturday.

He succumbed to his wounds on Sunday, the state news agency said. Several other people were hospitalised as a result of their wounds.

TAP said that security forces had intervened when protesters attempted to set fire to a national guard post outside the town.

It said the young men then attacked another national guard post, before marching on the governor's residence, prompting the troops to intervene.

Protests and sit-in's were also reported outside the governor's office on Saturday, with protesters calling for him to be replaced.

Kef clashes

In the northwestern town of Kef, the army moved in after at least two people were killed and another 17 injured in clashes on Saturday, according to the interior ministry.

Fresh protests erupted on Sunday, with angry men setting a local police station on fire.

"There's panic in the town. The district's security forces building is on fire," Raouf Hadaoui, a labour union activist, told the AFP news agency.

Hadaoui said several police cars had been torched and fires were threatening to spread from the police station to neighbouring homes.

"The army has been deployed all around the town and is trying to help the ambulance services," he said.

TAP reported that demonstrators had taken documents and equipment from the police station before setting it on fire.

Several hundred demonstrators had been calling for Khaled Ghazouani, the local police chief, to be sacked for abuse of power, the agency said.

Ghazouani slapped a protester during the demonstration on Saturday, and has now been placed under arrest, according to the interior ministry.

In a separate development, two members of the security forces in Sidi Bouzid, in central Tunisia, were arrested over their suspected role in the deaths on Friday of two detainees.

Hundreds had also demonstrated there.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies


Tunisia replaces regional governors

Interim government continues efforts to dismantle Ben Ali's legacy while struggling to restore order and stability

Last Modified: 03 Feb 2011 22:48 GMT

While 'Finally Freedom' grafitti cover Tunis, how the government will restore stability remains to be seen

Tunisia has replaced all 24 regional governors as part of the efforts to dismantle the legacy of the ousted president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, according to official sources.

The country's state news agency reported on Thursday that the interior ministry replaced several senior security officials this week, a first step to overhauling the network of police, security forces and spies built up by Ben Ali during 23 years of police rule.

The move is unlikely to satisfy those who want al-Nahda (Renaissance), an Islamist party banned under Ben Ali, to be reinstated as part of the power structure.

In a recent interview with Al Jazeera, Rachid Ghannouchi, al-Nadha's leader, has said the interim government is not stable and that a true unity government would not exclude anyone.

Street protests have dried up in Tunisia in recent days after a reshuffle purged the interim government of most Ben Ali loyalists. However, many Tunisians have called for more officials to be replaced at the security and regional level.

Amid the political uncertainty, a Jewish leader has said a gang set fire to a small synagogue in what appeared to be the first attack on a Jewish institution since the start of the unrest that ousted Ben Ali.

Peres Trabelsi, who heads the Ghriba synagogue in Djerba, said on Tuesday a small synagogue in the southern town of El Hamma was set alight and a Torah burned.

In a telephone interview, Trabelsi said: "They want us to leave and sow discord between the Jewish and Muslim communities who have long lived in symbiosis."

Trabelsi said that gangs also damaged four cars belonging to Jews in Djerba.

Ghriba was the target of a deadly "terrorist attack" in 2002 that left 21 people dead.

The report of the Djerba attack came as the head of a UN mission investigating last month's uprising said that 147 people were killed and another 510 injured.

Bakr N'diaye, head of the UN Office of the High Commission on Human Rights, said the figure does not include 72 people who died in prison riots.

The interim government formed after Ben Ali fled the country on January 14 has said about 78 people lost their lives in the violence. But opposition members have insisted the death toll was much higher.

Source: Agencies

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