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Protests as Tunisia mourns victims of unrest

21 January 2011 21:48 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Anti-government protesters took to the streets on Friday as Tunisia began three days of mourning for the dozens of people killed during the overthrow of president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, APA reports quoting â€œReutersâ€.
Tunisia’s interim government, which took over after Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia last week in the face of widespread popular unrest, has faced continued protests by crowds angry that members of the old guard are still in the cabinet.
Hundreds protested peacefully in central Tunis on Friday and outside the headquarters of the state-owned Tunisian Transport Company, demanding the removal of senior officials from Ben Ali’s era.
An employee, who gave his name as Moftah, said: "This company has corrupt people and it’s time to demand our rights. We’re not going to be silent about this. We want this minority out."
NEVER ACCEPT
In central Tunis crowds chanted: "We won’t accept this government, we will never accept it."
Outside the prime minister’s office, protesters jostled Ahmed Ibrahim, leader of the opposition Ettajdid Party and minister of higher education in the new cabinet, apparently angered at his role in a government they dislike.
State TV also showed hundreds of people protesting against the government in the southwestern town of Gafsa, Sfax on the coast and Tataouine in the far south.
Three days of national mourning were announced late on Thursday for the victims of the unrest that convulsed Tunisia for several weeks. The government says at least 78 people have been killed since the start of the uprising, while the United Nations has put the toll at around 100.
The new government said schools and universities would reopen on Monday and sporting events, also on hold since last week, would resume soon.
The government offered a blanket amnesty to all political groups, including the banned Islamist opposition.
Protesters have complained that despite a promised amnesty, only a few hundred of those imprisoned for political reasons during Ben Ali’s 23-year rule had been released.
"We are in agreement for a general amnesty," Higher Education Minister Ibrahim said on Thursday. [nLDE70J27X]
Tunisian state TV showed pictures of weapons being removed from the homes of Ben Ali family members. "This shows the excesses of this family," it said.
Ben Ali fell after weeks of unrest spurred by anger over poverty, unemployment and repression. It was the first genuinely popular uprising to topple a Middle Eastern leader since the overthrow of the Shah of Iran in 1979.
European traders said on Friday Tunisia’s state grains agency had completed its first grains tender since the unrest began, a move expected given the revolt against Ben Ali had been triggered in part by high food prices.
Separately, Central Bank governor Mustafa Kamel Nabli told reporters that Tunisia was reviewing plans to tap international debt markets this year pending an upgrade in its ratings.
"After what happened, we decided to review returning to international (debt) markets once things become clearer and after we return to (previous) rating levels," he said.
A 2014 deadline for the full convertibility of its dinar currency might also be delayed, he added.