Tunisia Crowd Tear Gassed As Anti-Government Protests Continue
TUNIS, Tunisia — Authorities clashed with anti-government protesters outside the prime minister's office Monday, teachers went on strike, and police demanded the right to form a union as Tunisia struggled to stabilize itself after its president was overthrown.
Following an overnight 'sleep-in' in defiance of the country's curfew, scores of protesters from Tunisian provinces gathered in central Tunis, shouting anti-government slogans. As the crowd grew rowdy, police fired tear gas grenades in the air, and some demonstrators shattered the windows of police cars.
Schools were set to reopen Monday after protracted closure because of the unrest, but teachers went on strike. Some students joined the demonstrations instead of heading to their classrooms.
The protesters are angry that holdovers from former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's regime have leading posts in the interim government in place since last week. Ben Ali fled the country Jan. 14 after 23 years in power, pushed out by weeks of deadly protests driven by anger over joblessness, corruption and repression.
Noisy street demonstrations have continued since Ben Ali's departure, but most have been peaceful. The confrontation Monday morning was brief and involved a small group of protesters, and the atmosphere seemed calm soon afterward.
At one point the army chief of staff, Gen. Rachid Ammar, addressed the crowd, promising the army would be the "guarantor of the revolution" and urging calm.
Gen. Ammar is widely considered a hero in Tunisia for reportedly refusing an order to open fire on protesters, leading Ben Ali to fire him. He was reinstated once Ben Ali was ousted. While Tunisia's army is respected, police have long been feared. Scores of protesters in Tunisia's recent unrest were shot by police bullets.
Police officers were holding a separate protest of their own near the Interior Ministry in central Tunis, demanding to be able to form a union.
State TV also reported Monday that a former Ben Ali political adviser who had been sought by police, Abdelwaheb Abdallah, has been located and placed under house arrest.
Police have cracked down on key allies of the ousted president, placing two high-ranking officials under house arrest and detaining the head of a well-known private TV station for allegedly trying to slow the country's nascent steps toward democracy.
Tunisia's so-called "Jasmine Revolution" sparked scattered protests and civil disobedience across the Middle East and North Africa. Many observers are looking to see if Tunisians can complete their fervent push for democracy.
Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, who took that post in 1999 under Ben Ali and has kept it through the upheaval, has vowed to quit politics after upcoming elections. But he has insisted that he needs to stay on to shepherd Tunisia through a transition to democracy. Many other Cabinet members also are Ben Ali-era holdovers.
The top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, Jeffrey Feltman, arrived Monday in Tunis. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley wrote on Twitter that Feltman was to "confer with the interim government on its plans for democratic reforms and elections."
In France, Tunisia's colonial-era overseer, President Nicolas Sarkozy acknowledged Monday that his government "underestimated" the anger that drove Tunisian protesters to overthrow their longtime leader. Tunisia was a French protectorate, and France has maintained close ties with its leaders since independence.
Sarkozy said it would be inappropriate for France to meddle in Tunisia's current affairs or exhibit "colonial reflexes."
Earlier this month, France's foreign minister, Michele Alliot-Marie, was criticized for offering French security know-how to Tunisian authorities as they struggled to subdue protesters. Some 78 civilians have been killed, many shot by police, according to the government's official count. The opposition says the overall toll is much higher.
Ben Ali was often criticized for a heavy-handed crackdown on opponents, for curbing civil liberties and for running a police state – though he was an ally in the U.S. fight against terrorism.
Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, told reporters in Brussels that it was important the European Union, United States and others learn "that it's wrong to sort of stand with the dictator simply because he's seen as a bulwark against terrorism or will help in fighting immigration."
Meanwhile, the Paris prosecutor's office said it opened an inquiry into the Ben Ali family's assets in France. The move came after anti-corruption group Transparency International France and two other associations filed suit in Paris alleging corruption by Ben Ali and his wife.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has said the U.S. is encouraged by indications the interim government is trying to be inclusive and ensure that the many segments of Tunisian society will have a voice.
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Khalil Ben Hamida and Bouazza Ben Bouazza in Tunis contributed to this report.
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HADEEL AL-SHALCHI 01/24/11 03:00 PM ET Associated Press