Hundreds of Protesters March against Tunisian President
Hundreds of protesters marched in the Tunisian capital Friday shouting slogans against President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the day after he promised not to seek another term, an Agence France Presse reporter said.
"No to Ben Ali, the uprising continues," they cried.
After nearly a month of riots that initially focused on unemployment, sparked by the suicide of a young graduate who set himself alight, the president had appeared on television Thursday in a bid to calm tensions.
He promised he would not seek another term in office and vowed to liberalize the political system.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Kamel Morjane said a national unity government would be feasible and "totally normal" for Tunisia as the country looked to move on from weeks of deadly social unrest.
Speaking on French radio station Europe 1, Morjane made a significant nod towards Mohammed Nejib Chebbi, leader of the opposition Progressive Democratic Party, which is legal but not represented in parliament.
"Given the conduct of people like Mr. Nejib Chebbi, I think it is feasible, even totally normal" to have a power-sharing deal, Morjane said. He gave no further details of who he thought might take part.
After a month of deadly riots that started as a protest at unemployment, Tunisia's President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on Thursday promised to step down at the end of his current term in 2014.
"The president is a man of his word," Morjane said.
Ben Ali's televised address on Thursday evening was well received by rival political groups in Tunisia, where Ben Ali has held power for 23 years and the organized opposition is weak.
Ben Ali pledged to liberalize the political system and ordered security forces not to fire on crowds of protesters. Rights groups say at least 66 people have been killed in the recent clashes.
The unrest had reached the capital Tunis, but on Friday the security forces that had been deployed in force in the city centre appeared to have withdrawn and shops and cafes reopened, an AFP reporter there said.
Source: Agence France Presse
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