World responds to Tunisia uprising

[Turborama]

Source: Al Jazeera English

After notable silence by many, world leaders condemn violence against protesters and call for free and fair elections.
Last Modified: Jan 15 2011 00:37 GMT



World leaders have responded to the unrest in Tunisia, that has led to the end of president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali's 23-year rule and provided a chance for Tunisians to shape their own future.

Barack Obama, the US president, and Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, both issued statements late on Friday after Ben Ali fled Tunisia and sought refuge in nearby Saudi Arabia. Obama and Sarkozy had been criticised by Tunisian and human-rights activists for largely remaining silent about Tunisia protests, which were granted little media coverage in mainstream US media.

Sarkozy and his prime minister, Francois Fillon, were reported to have held a late night meeting on Friday, and subsequently refused to allow Ben Ali to land in France. However, on Wednesday this week Michèle Alliot-Marie, the French foreign minister, suggested that French police forces could help police in Tunisia "appease the situation through law enforcement techniques".

Her remarks were also met with widespread disapproval on social media websites, including Twitter and Facebook.

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/01/2011114224727460658.html

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More reactions from around the world at the main article.

[WCGreen]

1. Another Obama disappointment...

I get it. There is something to say for continuity in Foreign relations. But really. Not speaking out even when a thuggocracy is teetering.

[xchrom]

2. The American status quo has a history of doing

A really bad job of supportic democratic movements in other
Countries. Obama was just following tradition.

[WCGreen]

3. Yea, well, he of all people should want to break with tradition...

i thought the first president from his generation would be different.

That's why I am disappointed.

[xchrom]

4. i'm not excusing him. nt

[Enrique]

5. Embarrassed France abandons its Tunisian ally

Source: AFP

PARIS, Jan 15, 2011 (AFP) - Until the very last days of his often brutal reign, France stood by Tunisia's authoritarian leader Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, and only finally abandoned him once his downfall was inevitable.

Despite concerns about his human rights record and refusal to open up the political process, French leaders had praised Tunisia's economic development and seen his rule as a bulwark against Islamist extremism.

But when his people took to the streets to oust him and the time came for Ben Ali to take the path of exile he found France's airports closed to him, as an embarrassed Paris belatedly declared him persona non grata.

"We don't want him to come," a government official said late Friday, arguing that granting Ben Ali exile in Tunisia's former colonial power would upset the hundreds of thousands of French residents of Tunisian origin.

Then on Saturday, after weeks of violence that left dozens dead, President Nicolas Sarkozy finally offered "determined support" for the "democratic will" of the protesters, and called for free and fair elections.

(...)

Washington spoke sternly to Ben Ali long before France did, and President Barack Obama scored points with the protesting crowds on Friday by saluting their "courage and dignity" and calling for free and fair elections.

France never spoke against Ben Ali's repressive tactics, even as thousands of opponents were jailed and the press was censored.

Instead, on an April 2008 visit to Tunis, Sarkozy shocked many observers by praising his host and insisted that "the space for liberty is growing".

(...)

Read more: http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidANA20110115T134320ZMVK69

[fascisthunter]

6. good (nt)

[somone]

7. Sarkozy: "the space for liberty is growing"

and let them eat cake

[Catherina]

10. +1 n/t

[David__77]

8. Hopefully Tunisians don't soon forget where the west stood.

It is too bad the Islamic fundamentalism will likely be the will of the people, but that's what multi-party politics can get you...

[Catherina]

11. I don't believe they will. Especially now. Sarko, Obama and friends

can kiss Tunisia goodbye.

# Al Arabiya: Tunisian Police say those who fired at the head office of the Tunisian opposition Democratic Party carry Swedish passports

http://twitter.com/sultanalqassemi

("How do I follow what's happening in real-time? Your best immediate resource is the Twitter feed of Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, a columnist for The National, the United Arab Emirates' leading English-language newspaper. http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/01/whats-happening-tunisia-explained ")

[formercia]

9. Sarkozy: The man who would be Emperor

after all, he does have royal blood.

He longs for the 'Good old Days.'