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Africa North
Tunisia tries to form coalition
2011-01-16
Not sure if we should label this WoT-related or not. Some are calling this the 'Jasmine Revolution', and clearly Ben Ali was a thug, though not nearly as bad a thug as Qadaffy, Mubarak, and King Abdullah in Soddy-controlled Arabia. There's clear potential for Tunisia to become the next Libya (that is to say, the next Zimbabwe), but also some chance it would take a step towards having more democratic institutions.
TUNIS - Gunmen fired at random from cars in Tunis on Saturday and inmates staged a mass jailbreak while leaders tried to prevent Tunisia from descending into chaos after the president was swept from power.

It was not clear who the assailants were but a senior military source told Reuters that people affiliated to former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali were behind the shootings.

Soldiers and tanks were stationed in the city center to restore order in the aftermath of a night of looting that broke out when Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia following a month of violent anti-government protests that claimed dozens of lives.

The ousting of Tunisia's president after widespread protests could embolden Arab opposition movements and ordinary people to challenge entrenched governments across the Middle East.

Speaker of parliament Fouad Mebazza, sworn in as interim president, asked Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi to form a coalition government and the constitutional authorities said a presidential election should be held within 60 days.

The French government called on Tunisia to hold free elections as soon as possible and said it had taken steps to block suspicious movements of Tunisian assets in France.

Dozens of inmates were killed in the mass escapes from two prisons, gangs of men fired weapons randomly from speeding cars in the capital and clouds of black smoke hung over the city from torched buildings.

As night fell, a Reuters reporter said suburban neighborhoods were being guarded from looters by impromptu militias, made up of residents armed with clubs and knives. They blocked neighborhoods and only allowed local people to pass.
That's an encouraging sign.
In a sign that Ben Ali's rule was over, workers were taking down a portrait of the former president outside the headquarters of his RCD party on Mohamed V Avenue in the center of Tunis.

"We are very happy to be free after 23 years of prison," said Fahmi Bouraoui, drinking coffee in the Mozart cafe, one of a few businesses that reopened on Saturday morning.

But his optimism could be short-lived as parts of the country descended into chaos.

Tunisian analyst Taoufik Ayachi said of the drive-by shootings, about 10 km (six miles) from the city center on Saturday and in another suburb on Friday night:

"It is certain the presidential police are behind all this. They still hope to regain power.
Posted by:Steve White

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