Mother of man who set off Tunisia revolt sentenced

July 20, 2012 Associated Press

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — The mother of the fruit-seller whose self-immolation
touched off Tunisia's uprising has received a four-month suspended
sentence Friday for "verbally assaulting" a judge, after being jailed for
a week.

One of Manoubia Bouazizi's sons, Manoubia Bouazizi, touched off Tunisia's
revolution — and ultimately the Arab Spring — when he set himself on fire
after being slapped by a policewoman reprimanding him for selling fruit
without a license.

The 61-year-old woman was jailed a week ago after the argument. Another
son, Salem, has said the altercation was exaggerated. He said the judge
bumped into her and they exchanged words, but that his mother did not know
she was talking to a judge.

Mondher Bedhiafi, a spokesman for Tunisia's department of justice, said
the sentence was reduced after the complaint was withdrawn.

Over 800 inmates escape Tunisian prisons

By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA, Associated Press Apr 29, 2011

TUNIS, Tunisia – More than 800 inmates escaped on Friday from two Tunisian
prisons after fires were set in cells, the official news agency said.

Soldiers and security forces quickly fanned out in a search of the
fugitives and at least 35 were caught within hours, TAP said, citing
military sources.

TAP reported that 522 inmates from the prison in Kasserine escaped after a
fire in two cells, and another 300 inmates escaped from the Gafsa prison.

The two towns are both in Tunisia's center-west region, some 150
kilometers (about 95 miles) apart. Personnel at the prison in Gafsa were
on strike at the time, likely making the mass exodus by inmates easier.

The North African nation has been hit by social unrest since the country's
long-time autocratic ruler was ousted Jan. 14 in an uprising.

Some 11,000 inmates escaped from Tunisian prisons shortly after Zine El
Abidine Ben Ali fled into exile. Of those, several thousand have been
caught and nearly 2,000 turned themselves in after the Justice Ministry
warned the escape could worsen their cases, TAP reported.

Earlier, in the capital Tunis, police fired tear gas at hundreds of
Islamists protesting what they said were offensive comments toward Islam
by two teachers.

Protesters chanted "God is Great," and carried banners including one
reading "We do not pardon those who insult the prophet."

Several hours of peaceful protest degenerated when some demonstrators
sought to take on police, who immediately fired tear gas.

The demonstration on the main Avenue Bourguiba was the latest since Ben
Ali was brought down, hounded out of the country by protesters angry over
unemployment, corruption and repression.

Tunisia's uprising prompted protests around the Arab world.

Tunisia unity govt may not satisfy protesters

By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA and ELAINE GANLEY, Associated Press Jan. 17, 2011

TUNIS, Tunisia – Tunisia's prime minister announced a national unity
government Monday, allowing opposition into the country's leadership for
the first time in a bid to quell civil unrest following the ouster of
President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali amid huge street protests.

However, at least one union leader said the changes were not enough and
predicted demonstrations would continue until all key figures in the old
regime had been swept from power.

Tunisia's government said more than 78 protesters and other civilians have
died in the protests, which have swept the country for a month. Interior
Minister Ahmed Friaa said 94 civilians have been injured. And he said
members of security forces also have been killed, but he did not say how
many.

Although Ben Ali fled the country on Friday, after 23 years in power,
members of his government will play prominent roles in the new unity
government. Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, a longtime ally of Ben Ali,
and several top ministers have retained their posts.

Ghannouchi, who has been premier since 1999, said the current ministers of
defense, interior and foreign affairs would also keep their posts. He
announced as well that political prisoners would be freed, as one of an
array of measures aimed at loosening up a political system that for
decades was effectively under one-party rule.

But a critical question was whether the changes in the government lineup
would be enough to stabilize the North African country, which has been
reeling under from the unrest. Friaa told reporters Monday that 85 police
stations had been damaged, along with 13 town halls, 43 banks, 11
factories and 66 stores or shopping centers.

He said the country's economy the Tunisian economy lost 3 billion dinars
(US$2 billion) amid the troubles.

A union leader upset at the prospect of a government full of old guard
ministers, predicted growing demonstrations to press for an end to power
positions for the RCD — Ben Ali's political party.

"It (RCD) left by the back door and is coming back through the window,"
said Habib Jerjir, member of the executive bureau of the Regional Workers'
Union of Tunis. "We can't have militias in the streets and in the
government.

Many opponents of Ben Ali's rule had taken to the streets to express their
hope the new government would not include of remnants of his iron-fisted
regime.

In addition to the holdovers, three opposition figures — including Nejib
Chebbi, a founder of the opposition PDP party — will take up posts in the
government.

Until new presidential elections are held, the country is being run by
interim president Fouad Mebazaa, former speaker of the lower house of
parliament, also a veteran of Tunisia's ruling party.

Ghannouchi said all non-governmental associations that seek it would be
automatically recognized, and all the restrictions on the Tunisian League
for the Defense of Human Rights would be lifted.

Earlier Monday, security forces fired tear gas to repel angry
demonstrators. Later, a small, peaceful group of youths carried signs
reading "GET OUT" — marching under the gaze of police, some of hundreds of
security forces deployed in the capital.

Ghannouchi said the government would create three new state commissions to
study political reform, investigate corruption and bribery, and examine
abuses during the recent upheaval.

Ghannouchi didn't refer to the prospect of new elections, which under
Tunisia's constitution must be called within 60 days. But some members of
the opposition want more time, to allow the public to get know the choices
in a country known for one-party rule.

"The RCD still holds the power," said Hedi Guazaouni, 29. With the
potential for change after Ben Ali's flight from the country Friday, "This
is a chance not to be missed," he said.

Hylel Belhassen, a 51-year-old insurance salesman, summing up the concerns
of some, saying: "We're afraid that the president has left, but the
powers-that-be remain. We're afraid of being manipulated."

Demands for change were being made across sectors reined in by the Ben Ali
regime's grip.

Journalists at the nation's oldest state-run paper, La Presse, rose up in
revolt Monday and dismissed the editor-in-chief, Gawhar Chatty. The paper,
which daily featured front-page photos of Ben Ali or his wife, is now to
be run by a committee of journalists until a new direction is appointed.

They advised Chatty by phone that he was no longer welcome but he came to
work anyway. The noted cartoonist Lotfi Ben Sassi marched into his office.

"We can no longer allow you to continue with this editorial line," Lotfi
said, under the eye of an Associated Press Television News camera. "We are
journalists."

Asked later if he restricted reporting, Chatty conceded, "Yes, it's clear.
Yes, there was censorship."

The European Union said Monday it stood ready to offer economic aid and
help Tunisia become a democracy.

Finance Minister Christine Lagarde of France — a former colonial overseer
of Tunisia — told French radio Monday that Paris is keeping a close watch
on the assets of Tunisians in French banks.

During a visit to neighboring Algeria on Monday, U.S. President Barack
Obama's top counterterrorism official, John Brennan, said the United
States was ready to help the Tunisian government in holding "free and fair
elections in the near future that reflect the true will and aspirations"
of Tunisians.

Moncef Marzouki, a professor of medicine who leads the once-banned CPR
party from exile in France where he has lived for the last 20 years, told
France-Info radio he would be a candidate in the presidential election.

"The question is whether there will be or won't be free and fair
elections," said Marzouki, whose movement is of the secular left.

Whatever emerges, the new leadership will first face the challenge of
restoring order. Looting, gunbattles, and score-settling have roiled the
country since Friday, when a month of street protests against years of
repression, corruption and a lack of jobs brought down Ben Ali.

The family of a French photojournalist said Monday he had died after
having been hit in the face Friday with a tear gas canister. The French
Foreign Ministry said Loucas Von Zabiensky-Mebrouk, 32, was the "victim of
a deliberate homicidal act."

The victim, who often used the name Lucas Dolega, worked for the EPA photo
agency.

Shops in the center of Tunis remained shuttered Monday, and police were
deployed in force. A semblance of normal daily life returned in other
areas of the capital where shops, gas stations, pharmacies and
supermarkets reopened. Many people returned to their jobs and others
rushed to buy scarce stables like bread, fish and milk.

Hundreds of stranded tourists were still being evacuated from the country,
and foreign airlines gradually resumed the flights that were halted when
Tunisian airspace closed amid the upheaval.

Over the weekend, police arrested dozens of people, including the top
presidential security chief, as tensions appeared to mount between
Tunisians buoyant over Ben Ali's ouster and loyalists in danger of losing
many perks.

Ex-presidential security chief Ali Seriati and his deputy were charged
with a plot against state security, aggressive acts and for "provoking
disorder, murder and pillaging," the TAP state news agency reported.

Fierce gunbattles broke out between the two groups around the presidential
palace Sunday in Carthage on the Mediterranean shore, north of Tunis and
near the Interior Ministry in the capital.

The protests began last month after an educated but jobless 26-year-old
set himself on fire when police confiscated the fruits and vegetables he
was selling without a permit. His desperate act — from which he later died
— hit a nerve, sparked copycat suicides and focused anger against the
regime into a widespread revolt.

Reports of self-immollations surfaced in Egypt, Mauritania and Algeria on
Monday, in apparent imitation of the Tunisian events.

The downfall of the 74-year-old Ben Ali, who had taken power in a
bloodless coup in 1987, served as a warning to other autocratic leaders in
the Arab world. His Mediterranean nation, an ally in the U.S. fight
against terrorism and a popular tourist destination known for its wide
beaches, deserts and ancient ruins, had seemed more stable than many in
the region.

___

Associated Press Writer Raf Casert in Brussels, Hamza Hendawi in Cairo and
Jamey Keaten in Paris contributed to this report.

Tunisians drive leader from power in mass uprising

By ELAINE GANLEY and BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA, Associated Press Jan. 14, 2010

TUNIS, Tunisia – Protesters enraged over soaring unemployment and
corruption drove Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from power
Friday after 23 years of iron-fisted rule, an unprecedented popular
uprising in a region dominated by strongmen who do not answer to their
people.

Tunisians buoyant over Ben Ali's ouster immediately worried, however,
about what's next: the caretaker leadership of the prime minister who took
control, and the role of the army in the transition.

The upheaval took place after weeks of escalating unrest fueled partly by
social media and cell phones, as thousands of demonstrators from all walks
of life rejected Ben Ali's promises of change and mobbed the capital of
Tunis to demand his ouster in the country's largest demonstrations in
generations.

At least 23 people have been killed in the riots, according to the
government, but opposition members put the death toll at more than three
times that.

On Friday, police repeatedly clashed with protesters, some of whom climbed
onto the entrance roof of the dreaded Interior Ministry, widely believed
for years to be a place where the regime's opponents were tortured.

With clouds of tear gas and black smoke drifting over the city's
whitewashed buildings, Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi went on state
television to announce that he was assuming power in this North African
nation previously known mostly for its wide sandy beaches and ancient
ruins.

"I take over the responsibilities temporarily of the leadership of the
country at this difficult time to help restore security," Ghannouchi said
in a solemn statement on state television. "I promise ... to respect the
constitution, to work on reforming economic and social issues with care
and to consult with all sides."

The president promised legislative elections in six months, a pledge that
appeared to open at least the possibility of a new government.

President Barack Obama said he applauded the courage and dignity of
protesting Tunisians, and urged all parties to keep calm and avoid
violence.

Click image to see photos of riots in Tunisia


AP/Christophe Ena

Tunisian air space was closed and the president's whereabouts were a
mystery. It was far from certain that his ouster would calm the streets.
Isolated gunfire broke out sporadically Friday night and a state of
emergency was in effect. European tour companies moved thousands of
tourists out of the country.

"My first reaction is relief," said Dr. Souha Naija, a resident
radiologist at Charles Nicole Hospital. "He's gone ... I finally feel
free."

"They got the message. The people don't want a dictator." However, she
voiced concern for the future because, officially at least, Ben Ali
vacated power only temporarily.

"It's ambiguous," she said.

Ben Ali's downfall sent a potentially frightening message to autocratic
leaders across the Arab world. He deftly managed the economy of his small
country of 10 million better than many other Middle Eastern nations
grappling with sclerotic economies and booming, young populations, turning
it into a beach haven for tourists and beacon of stability in volatile
North Africa. There was a lack of civil rights and little or no freedom of
speech, but a better quality of life for many than in neighboring
countries like Algeria and Libya.

He had won frequent praise from abroad for presiding over reforms to make
the economy more competitive and attract business; growth last year was at
3.1 percent.

But unemployment was officially measured at 14 percent, but far higher
among the young — 52 percent of Tunisia's 10 million people — and despair
among job-seeking young graduates was palpable.

Arabs across the region celebrated on Twitter, Facebook and blogs at news
of the Tunisian uprising.

Thousands of Tweets congratulating the Tunisian people flooded the
Internet and many people changed their profile pictures to Tunisian flags.

Egyptian activists opposed to President Hosni Mubarak's three-decade
regime also looked to the events in Tunisia with hope.

About 50 Egyptians gathered outside the Tunisian embassy in Cairo Friday
to celebrate with singing and dancing. They chanted, "Ben Ali, tell
Mubarak a plane is waiting for him too!"

Unconfirmed rumors about Ben Ali's location reached such a fevered pitch
that the governments of France and Malta — just two of several countries
where Ben Ali was speculated to be heading — put out statements saying
they have had no requests to accommodate him

The 74-year-old leader came to power in a bloodless palace coup in 1987.
He took over from a man called formally President-for-Life — Habib
Bourguiba, the founder of modern-day Tunisia who set the Muslim country on
a pro-Western course after independence from France in 1956.

Ben Ali removed Bourguiba from office for "incompetence," saying he had
become too old, senile and sick to rule. Ben Ali promised then that his
leadership would "open the horizons to a truly democratic and evolved
political life."

But after a brief period of reforms, Tunisia's political evolution stopped.

Ben Ali consistently won elections with overwhelmingly questionable
tallies: In 2009, he was re-elected for a fifth five-year term with 89
percent of the vote. Beforehand, he had warned opponents they would face
legal retaliation if they questioned the vote's fairness.

U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks have called Tunisia a "police
state" and described the corruption there, saying Ben Ali had lost touch
with his people. Social networks like Facebook helped spread the comments
to the delight of ordinary Tunisians, who have complained about the same
issues for years.

Under Ben Ali, most opposition parties were illegal. Amnesty International
said authorities infiltrated human rights groups and harassed dissenters.
Reporters Without Borders described Ben Ali as a "press predator" who
controlled the media.

The riots started after an educated but jobless 26-year-old committed
suicide in mid-December when police confiscated the fruits and vegetables
he was selling without a permit. His desperate act hit a nerve, sparked
copycat suicides and focused generalized anger against the regime into a
widespread, outright revolt.

The president tried vainly to hold onto power. On Thursday night he went
on television to promise not to run for re-election in 2014 and slashed
prices on key foods such as sugar, bread and milk. A day later he declared
the state of emergency, dissolving the government and promising new
legislative elections within six months.

Hundreds of police with shields and riot gear moved into the peaceful
demonstration nearly six hours after it began on the capital's main Friday
in front of the Interior Ministry. Helmeted police fired dozens of rounds
of tear gas and kicked and clubbed unarmed protesters — one of whom
cowered on the ground, covering his face.

An AP Television News reporter heard gunfire in the center of the Tunisian
capital late Friday afternoon, in addition to the popping of tear gas
pistols.

A few youths were spotted throwing stones, but most demonstrated calmly.
Protesters were of all ages and from all walks of life, from students
holding mid-street sit-ins to doctors in white coats to black-robed
lawyers waving posters.

"A month ago, we didn't believe this uprising was possible," said Beya
Mannai, a geology professor at the University of Tunis. "But the people
rose up."

The prime minister suggested that Ben Ali had willingly handed over
control,but the exact circumstances of his removal from power were
unclear.

The prime minister did not say anything about a coup or about the army
being in charge, saying only that he was taking over while the president
is "temporarily indisposed."

"Under Article 56 of the Constitution that holds that in a case of
temporary incapacity, the president can delegate by decree his power to
the prime minister. Given the temporary incapacity of the President to
carry out his duties, I take over the responsibilities temporarily of the
leadership of the country at this difficult time to help restore
security," Ghannouchi said.

Ghannouchi, 69, is a trained economist who has been a longtime close ally
of Ben Ali. Prime minister since 1999, he is one of the best-known faces
of Tunisia's government. He also has served as the country's minister for
international cooperation and its minister of foreign investment.

A founder of the main legal opposition party said the dramatic
developments do not amount to a coup d'etat.

"It's an unannounced resignation," Nejib Chebbi said by telephone. To
declare a permanent absence of a head of state, such as in a coup,
elections would have to be held within 60 days, he said. "So they declare
a temporary vacating of power."

Tour operator Thomas Cook said it was evacuating 3,800 British, Irish and
German vacationers from Tunisia as a precaution.

In Sudan in 1985, a collapsing economy and other grievances sparked a
popular uprising, although the government was eventually ousted by a
military coup.

However, the closest parallel in the broader Middle East comes from Iran —
which is not an Arab nation — where mass demonstrations helped topple the
Shah and usher in the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

Tunisia's giant neighbor Algeria saw huge protests before it was shaken by
a military coup in 1992, with a five-man leadership put in place after the
army canceled the nation's first multiparty legislative elections that a
Muslim fundamentalist party was poised to win. The party, the Islamic
Salvation Front, became a vehicle for popular dissent.

There were also massive demonstrations in Lebanon in 2005, dubbed the
"Cedar Revolution," but those were directed against Syrian influence in
the country and not the Lebanese government per se. The protests led to
the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon and the resignation of
Lebanon's pro-Syrian prime minister and fresh elections.

Al-Qaida's North African offshoot appeared to try to capitalize on the
Tunisian unrest, offering its support for protesters this week. There has
been no sign of Islamic extremist involvement in the rioting.

___

Nicolas Garriga and Oleg Cetinic in Tunis, Angela Doland, Greg Keller and
Jamey Keaten in Paris and Hadeel Al-Shalchi in Cairo contributed to this
report.

Tunisian president quits after violent protests

AP/Christophe Ena

Demonstrators throw rocks towards police during clashes in Tunis. More photos »

by Mohamed Hasni and Hamida Ben Salah Jan. 14, 2011 AFP

TUNIS (AFP) – Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali quit on Friday after 23 years in power and fled the north African state as the authorities declared a state of emergency following deadly protests.

Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi announced on state television that he had taken over as interim president, after a day of violent clashes between rock-throwing protesters and riot police in the streets of central Tunis.

"I call on Tunisians of all political persuasions and from all regions to demonstrate patriotism and unity," Ghannouchi said in a solemn live address.

Government sources told AFP that Ben Ali had left the country but it was not immediately clear where he was headed.

Ben Ali had promised on Thursday to stand down at the end of his mandate in 2014 and said the prices of basic foodstuffs would be cut.

Ghannouchi announced after another day of violence Friday that the government had been sacked and elections would be held in six months.

Ben Ali's dramatic departure came after several tumultuous weeks in which a protest over high food prices and unemployment in central Tunisia escalated and spread across the country, with anger against the president spilling into the streets.

"We just want democracy," 24-year-old Hosni, his face wrapped in a Tunisian flag against tear gas, said during riots ahead of the president's departure.

Tarek, 19, an engineering student with a rock in one hand and a metal bar in the other, said: "Our president has promised a lot. They're empty promises."

Click image to see photos of riots in Tunisia

AP/Christophe Ena

Protesters even descended on the interior ministry in Tunis, one of the symbols of 74-year-old Ben Ali's iron-fisted rule, where they openly chanted for his swift departure and paid tribute to the "blood of the martyrs".

"I've never seen anything like this. This is our chance. We'll never have another chance like this," said Adel Ouni, a 36-year-old diplomat, observing the protest, adding: "This is a social revolution."

Tunisian authorities then declared a national state of emergency, banning public gatherings and imposing a strict curfew across the country.

"The police and the army are authorised to fire on any suspect person who has not obeyed orders or fled without the possibility of being stopped," said a government statement carried by the official TAP news agency.

The army meanwhile took control of the main international Tunis Carthage airport and airspace was shut down, an airport source said.

In earlier comments on TAP, Ghannouchi said the president had decided "to dismiss the government and call early elections in six months".

The statement said the decision had been made the day before, but there had been no mention of the government's dismissal in Ben Ali's national address Thursday although he did take a swipe at his lieutenants for "deceit".

But the apparent concessions did little to stem the calls for change with the chant of "Ben Ali Out!" echoing at demonstrations across the country.

"This is a demonstration of hope," Moncef Ben Mrad, editor of an independent newspaper, said at the protest in Tunis earlier on Friday.

"It is the birth of a people who demand more freedom and that the families that have looted the country return the wealth and are called to account."

Speaking at a news conference in Paris, Tunisia's main opposition parties, both legal and banned, had demanded Ben Ali step down in favour.

According to a Paris-based rights group, 66 people have been killed since mid-December in the worst unrest faced in Ben Ali's rule, about three times higher than the official toll.

Although Ben Ali had called on Thursday for an end to live firing by his security forces, medical sources said 13 people had been shot dead on the same night in the Tunisian capital and suburbs.

In a bid to quell the unrest, the president had promised in his national address that he would not seek another term in office and vowed to liberalise the political system.

Addressing other complaints, he also pledged to lower the prices of basic commodities such as milk, bread and sugar, and lift restrictions on the Internet.

With the tensions mounting, the leading tour operator Thomas Cook said it was evacuating more than 4,000 holidaymakers from the Mediterranean nation including from Germany, Britain and Ireland.

France became the latest in a list of European countries to advise its citizens against travel to Tunisia.

Jobless youths in Tunisia riot using Facebook

By ELAINE GANLEY and BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA, Associated Press Jan 11, 2011

TUNIS, Tunisia – In the cruise ship brochures, Tunisia is a land of
endless sandy beaches, warm Mediterranean waters, ancient ruins and
welcoming bazaars.

But behind the postcard-perfect facade, legions of jobless youths who see
no future are seething under the iron-fisted leadership of President Zine
El Abidine Ben Ali, and worried fathers wonder how they will feed their
families. Their despair over Tunisia's soaring unemployment and rising
food prices has fueled more than three weeks of deadly riots, posing the
most significant challenge yet to the 74-year-old leader who grabbed power
23 years ago in a bloodless coup.

And what has helped to break the barrier of fear that kept Tunisian anger
bottled up for so long? Social networks like Facebook, which have helped
organize protests and fuel online rage across this North African nation.

Police have fired repeatedly on protesters. The government says 23 people
have died in the riots — 21 in the last three days — but unions and
witnesses say at least 46 have died. In the town of Kasserine, site of the
bloodiest confrontation, police were reported to have killed a man
carrying the coffin of a child.

Riots were reported late Tuesday in the Ettadhamoun neighborhood five
kilometers (three miles) west of Tunis — the first time the violence has
reached so near the capital. A resident said youths set fire to a local
administration building and sacked banks, while police fired on rioters.
He spoke on condition of anonymity, because of the sensitivity of the
unrest.

The revolt that began with an individual protest Dec. 17 has left this
moderate Muslim nation's reputation as a symbol of modernity in tatters
and highlighted its inability to provide opportunities for its young.

"When a father can no longer feed his children, he loses his place ... and
his dignity," said Selim Ben Hassen, the Paris-based president of the
Byrsa citizens movement. "It's not just a question of money. It's a
question of honor."

Ben Hassen credits Facebook for spreading word of the unrest — and
bolstering timid citizens to break their traditional code of silence.

"The psychological barrier of fear has fallen," Ben Hassen said. "People
now know it's possible to go into the streets, cry 'Freedom!' and say 'We
don't want a president for life.'"

Video-sharing sites like YouTube and Daily Motion are banned in Tunisia,
where newspapers are tightly censured, but Facebook abounds and videos
posted there are quickly spread around.

One in 10 Tunisians has a Facebook account, according to Ben Hassen, whose
movement is also on Facebook.

"It's a form of civil resistance," he said.

In the capital of Tunis, police violently broke up a demonstration Tuesday
by about 100 actors, musicians and other artists that condemned the
government crackdown on the rioters, Tunisian stage director Fadhel Jaibi
told The Associated Press.

Jalila Baccar said she saw police attack fellow actress Raja Ben Ammar.

"(She was) insulted, beaten, knocked to the ground and dragged by her hair
for a few hundred meters (yards)," Baccar said.

The unrest began after Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old with a university
degree, set himself on fire when police in the central town of Sidi Bouzid
confiscated the fruits and vegetables he was selling without a permit. He
later died in a hospital near Tunis, and his desperate act touched a nerve
with educated, unemployed youths nationwide.

Unemployment in Tunisia is officially around 14 percent but is much higher
in rural areas and among youths.

The death even sparked several copycat suicides — in the latest, an
unemployed 23-year-old climbed an electric pylon Tuesday near Bouazizi's
hometown and electrocuted himself, union official Mohamed Fadhel told the
AP.

The unrest has hopscotched to towns around the country, concentrated in,
but not limited to, regions less visible to the waves of European tourists
who flock to Tunisia's beaches. Public buildings, schools, cars and even
police stations have been attacked.

Ben Ali, whose portrait hangs in public offices across the country, has
labeled the rioting "terrorist acts" controlled from abroad. On Monday, he
ordered all high schools and universities, seen as hotbeds of activism, to
shut down indefinitely.

His government is now arresting bloggers and reporters. Paris-based
Reporters Without Borders said a journalist for Radio Kalima was carted
off Tuesday from his home in the city of Sfax and a correspondent for the
radio in the southern city of Gabes was sprayed with a Mace-like gas,
pushed into a truck and taken to the Interior Ministry.

Most of the deaths have been over the last three days in the central town
of Kasserine, 120 miles (200 kilometers) southwest of Tunis.

"After trying in vain to stop (protesters) from invading police stations
and firing warning shots, security forces were obliged to open fire," the
Interior Ministry said statement Tuesday of violence there Monday.

Local teacher Chokri Hayouni said he counted 19 dead in the city, where he
said 3,000 soldiers were deployed, including over a dozen military
vehicles positioned around the central bank.

Youths in neighboring Algeria took to the streets for four days to protest
skyrocketing prices of staples like cooking oil and sugar, but authorities
quickly slashed prices and calm returned. Experts see no particular link
between the events.

France, the former colonial ruler, has laid low during the Tunisian unrest.

But the United States summoned Tunisia's ambassador, and U.S. State
Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Tunisians should enjoy the right to
protest and expressed concern about a crackdown on the country's social
media.

In response, Tunisia's Foreign Ministry summoned the U.S. ambassador
Monday, expressing "surprise" at the American reaction.

Germany's deputy Foreign Minister Werner Hoyer warned on Tuesday the
unrest could affect Tunisia's rapprochement with the European Union.

The country vaunts its modernity. Tunisian women are banned from wearing
Islamic head scarves in public buildings and have the right to initiate
divorce. However, critics say that women are being used as window dressing
in a country that fails to offer its citizens basic freedoms.

"The law will have the last word," Ben Ali told the nation in a televised
address Monday. He insisted he is personally committed to creating 300,000
jobs in the next two years.

A former interior minister now in his fifth term, Ben Ali is suspected of
wanting to replicate the man he ousted, president-for-life Habib
Bourguiba, the founder of modern-day Tunisia.

Significantly, the offices of his ruling RCD party, which tightly controls
political life, were among the buildings attacked by rioters.

___

Ganley reported from Paris.