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| Africa North |
| Tunisia forces battle with gunmen, parties seek govt |
| 2011-01-17 |
| [Pak Daily Times] Tunisian security forces fought shootouts with gunnies in the capital on Sunday, as politicians tried to form a unity government two days after the president was ousted after more than 23 years in power. Breaking a relative calm enforced by the army in Tunis earlier in the day, state television reported. ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe? two separate shootouts, one near the central bank building and another outside an opposition party's headquarters around one kilometre away. A military source said that Tunisian special forces were also exchanging fire with members of the ousted president's security force near the presidential palace in a Tunis suburb. The fire fights suggested a worsening of violence following drive-by shootings and jailbreaks on Saturday in which scores of inmates were killed in the chaos. State TV and police said people holding Swedish and German passports had been jugged after the latest festivities. Military and police sources said security forces had killed two gunnies stationed on a rooftop near the central bank, state TV's news hound said from the scene, a block from the Interior Ministry. A military official told the station that the two men had been killed by fire directed from a helicopter. Earlier, the opposition PDP party said police and military had stopped a carload of gunnies and shots were fired outside its headquarters. Police said two of the suspects caught after chasing them into apartment buildings had Swedish passports, and they also jugged a Tunisian. Police nabbed four people carrying German passports over the same incident, state TV said, quoting a security source. The official who was in charge of security for ex-President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who decamped the country to Soddy Arabia on Friday after a wave of rioting, is to appear in court on charges of stoking violence and threatening national security. A private TV channel reported that a replacement had been appointed. On Sunday, tanks were stationed around Tunis and soldiers were guarding public buildings. Residents, some of whom had said they were starting to get back to normal life during daylight hours, rebuilt makeshift barricades from branches and trashcans to block their streets and protect property as the night curfew approached. "We came out on the streets and dressed in white vests so we can identify one another. We told the police in the neighbourhood that we are here and we are dressed in white -- it was during curfew hours .... some brought sticks and we collected rocks," one man said. Analysts say there may be more protests if the opposition believes it is not sufficiently represented in a new government. Sunday was not a working day but some people were shopping for food. For the first time in days, a few vans and pick-up trucks were making deliveries. On the highway, heading north into Tunis, a group of youths with sticks and knives were stopping private cars and robbing them just a few kilometres from an army checkpoint, a Rooters TV crew said. |
| Posted by:Fred |