TUNISIA: Protester killed as anti-government demonstrations escalate
One person was killed and others injured when Tunisia's National Guard members opened fire on angry protesters in the town of Menzel Bouzaiene over the weekend.
The state-run news agency TAP quoted an unnamed security official as saying that guard members were forced to use their weapons in self-defense after "a group of individuals set ablaze a railway engine and set fire to three National Guard vehicles before raiding the city's National Guard station."
The source added that several guard members were burned, including two who fell into a coma. Mohamed Fadel, leader of the secondary school union in Menzel Bouzaiene, identified the man who died as Mohamed Ammari, 18.
"Several thousands took part in the riot. Many arrests have been made and the whole town, which is located in the governorate of Sidi Bouzid, has been sealed off by security officers," Fadel told Agence France-Presse.
The death comes as riots and demonstrations against unemployment and poor living conditions entered their ninth day in Sidi Bouzid. Unrest scattered across the region after the suicide attempts of two young persons last week.
University graduate Mohamed Bouazizi set himself aflame to protest police officers' confiscation of fruits and vegetables he was selling in a street-side stand; Nagi Felhi electrocuted himself after growing desperate due to his failure to land a job.
Hundreds of locals took their dismay to the streets of a number of towns across the region, and Ammari's death has prompted similar marches in the capital.
Several hundred activists and students demonstrated in Tunis to show solidarity with Sidi Bouzid protesters on Saturday, carrying banners reading "Shame on the government" and "We deserve jobs."
"This march is a message to our brothers in Sidi Bouzid. We tell them that they are not alone and that their demands are legitimate," said Soliman Rouissi, who's a member of a worker's union.
In a failed attempt to calm tensions in the region, Tunisian Development Minister Nohamed Nouri Jouini traveled to Sidi Bouzid on Thursday to announce a new $10-million employment program.
-- Amro Hassan in Cairo
Photo: A National Guard vehicle in the streets of Sidi Bouzid following clashes between police and protesters. Credit: Agence France-Presse
The Ben Ali regime in one of many dictatorship that the U.S. has historically supported in the Middle East. The U.S. call them moderate Arab states. The term moderate means they obey what we tell them to do, and it has nothing to do with these regime being moderate about anything else. They are the most oppressive regimes in the world (Egypt - Saudi Arabia - jordan - Morroco - Tunisia).
The question was asked before by Bush and many others: why do they hate us? They answer is simole and clear: They hate our government because of its support of these oppressive regimes that take the people freedom and inspiration away from them.
Posted by: Ayham Dahi | December 27, 2010 at 07:27 PM
i think that USA have to move toc change the regime of tunisia...it becomes insuportable!!
Posted by: bady | December 26, 2010 at 03:22 PM