Tunisia unrest: Renewed anti-government protests

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News 17 January 2011 Last updated at 11:49

New protests have broken out on the streets of Tunisia's capital, Tunis, hours before the expected announcement of a new national unity government. Police used water cannon to disperse several hundred demonstrators calling for the party of ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to relinquish power.

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Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi has said an agreement between the political parties would be unveiled later.

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Monday's protesters shouted slogans against Mr Ben Ali's Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD), says the BBC's Lyse Doucet in Tunis, as they made it clear they wanted the ruling party to have no place in the new government.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12206377

[Joanne98]

1. Teargas used to disperse protest in Tunis

Jan 17 (Reuters) - Tunisian security forces used teargas on Monday in an attempt to disperse a crowd in the centre of the capital demanding that the ruling party give up power, a Reuters reporter at the scene said.

Police and military had earlier used water cannon and fired shots in the air to try to break up the protest, but several hundred demonstrators remained on the city's Bourguiba Avenue, near the French embassy. (Reporting by Tarek Amara; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Alison Williams)

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE70G11K20110117

[Ghost Dog]

2. Authorities Struggle to Take Control in Tunisia

Demonstrators gathered Monday morning around the headquarters of Mr. Ben Ali’s ruling party to protest the formation of an interim government that includes members of the organization as ministers of the interior and of foreign affairs.

The protestors chanted for the ruling party to be driven out all together. But after more than fifty years of one-party rule in Tunisia, there are few people outside the ruling party with the experience and expertise to steer the government until elections are held.

Military tanks and police forces are still a heavy presence around the streets of Tunis, although cafes and businesses began to reopen Monday and life returned to the streets. The security forces at first allowed the demonstrations to build for a few hours. Then military forces fired shots into the air, followed by occasional blasts from a water cannon to disperse the crowd.

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But at around 12:30 p.m., the growing crowd surged toward the headquarters of the Interior Ministry, and the police evidently decided to bring the demonstrations to an end. It was unclear whether the police forces acted alone or in concert with troops, who appeared to be at the other end of the crowd.

/... http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/18/world/africa/18tunis.html?src=twrhp

[dipsydoodle]

3. Keep an eye this page with live text commentary

which constantly updates : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/9363808.stm

[Ghost Dog]

4. Thanks... New new Govt. now formed, it says:

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1541 Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi, an old ally of Mr Ben Ali, will remain in post in the new government.

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1535 Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi says anyone with enormous wealth or who is suspected of being corrupt will be investigated, Reuters reports.

1530 Kamel Morjane, who served as foreign minister under the old government, will keep his post.

1526 AFP confirms a government has been formed. It says three opposition leaders are included and the new government will now prepare for an election.

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1517 Reuters is reporting that a new government has been formed - opposition leaders Ahmed Ibrahim and Mustafa Ben Jaafar have been given ministerial posts, the agency says.
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[Catherina]

5. NO To Mohammed Ghannouchi! This is outrageous.

No wonder they're pissed. They already demanded he leave and now he's part of the new coalition. Just as bad, only opposition parties recognized by the former regime in Tunisia were invited to be part of the coalition govt; the Communist party and the moderate Islamic Ennahdha party were barred. What a sham. As a Tunisian, I'd be livid and still rioting.

[Alamuti Lotus]

7. In a way, it is good that the TCWP are barred -- they are leading the revolution on the street

The current caretakers wish to keep as much of the old status quo as possible, while shutting up the street -- good, that will only hasten a total revolution in the country, led in large part currently by the brave lions in the Tunisian Communist Workers Party and some brave factions of the army that are standing up to the old guard thugs trying to loot as much of the country as they can right now.

[Odin2005]

6. K&R