Tunisia awaits new unity gov't; unrest continues

[January 17, 2011]  TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) -- Tunisia's interim leaders plan to announce a new government Monday that includes opposition leaders for the first time -- a move they hope will stabilize their violence-wracked nation.

Police were seen using tear gas to break up a demonstration on the main avenue in central Tunis on Monday, and helicopters were circling overhead. There were also unconfirmed reports of the arrests or killings of gunmen behind shooting rampages since autocratic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on Friday.

Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, a longtime ally of Ben Ali, said a new national unity government was likely to be announced Monday that would include former regime opponents long locked out of access to power. That would mark an unprecedented transition of power in the Arab world.

Many Tunisians are hopeful about the first new government in 23 years but wary of what the future may hold. Some countries -- like Tunisia's former colonial overseer, France -- have called for restraint as unrest in the North African country plays out.

A semblance of normal daily life returned in some areas of the capital on Monday, with once-shuttered shops, gas stations, pharmacies and supermarkets reopening and many people returning to their jobs.

Hundreds of stranded tourists were still being evacuated from the country. Foreign airlines were gradually resuming service that was halted when Tunisian airspace closed amid the upheaval.

The constitution requires elections in 60 days after the departure of a leader, but one opposition leader told The Associated Press that Tunisian authorities could announce presidential elections in the next six months instead.

The opposition PDP party has pushed for the later timetable because its leaders feel Tunisians need time to familiarize themselves with parties so elections can be credible after decades of one-party rule, the official said.

Nejib Chebbi, a PDP founder and its longtime leader, and two other leaders of opposition parties are expected to gain posts in the new government along with some members of Ben Ali's former regime, the party official, speaking said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

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. A month of street protests against the years of repression, corruption and a lack of jobs for Tunisia's well-educated youths brought down Ben Ali -- and looting, gunbattles, and score-settling have roiled the country since.

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 major perks.

Looting escalated as ordinary Tunisians saw worsening shortages of essentials such as milk, bread and fish.

A gunbattle broke out around the presidential palace late Sunday afternoon in Carthage on the Mediterranean shore, north of Tunis. The army and members of the newly appointed presidential guard fought off attacks from militias loyal to Ben Ali, said a member of the new presidential guard. Another two-hour gunbattle behind the Interior Ministry in central Tunis raged at the same time.

The prime minister said police and the army have carried out arrests among armed groups, without saying how many, and insisted "the coming days will show who is behind them."

"We won't be tolerant towards these people," Ghannouchi said.

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.

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 before the uprising that began last month.

[Associated Press; By ELAINE GANLEY and BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA]

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