The Tunisian ex-president remains in Saudi Arabia. After 23 years in power, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was ousted by thousands of people in the streets of Tunisia in what--at least for people observing from the West--was a somewhat unexpected development.
Khaleej Times Online -
Street protesters in Tunisia kept up pressure for a government free of ties with the old guard while a prominent dissident said he would run for president to sweep the former leadership from power.
The country’s interim leaders said they had freed the last of its political prisoners and promised a “complete break with the past” on Wednesday to appease the protesters who forced the strongman of 23 years, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, to flee to Saudi Arabia last week with some of his wealthy entourage.
State television said 33 of Ben Ali’s clan had been arrested for crimes against the nation. It showed what it said was seized gold and jewellery. Switzerland froze Ben Ali’s family assets.
Demonstrators, though less numerous than during the days of rage which unseated Ben Ali, continued to insist on the removal of all ministers from his once feared RCD party.
Taking Sides in the Tunisian Crisis
Hoover Institution - Kori Schake
Tuniais’s “President” has been overthrown. Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali controlled Tunisia and its people for twenty three years, creating “stability” by developing a repressive police state. He was forced from power by protesters in the streets and the refusal of his military chief to shoot his countrymen and women. General Ammar refused his presidents order to fire on protesters, and individual soldiers stepped in to prevent security forces from doing so, precipitating Mr. Ben Ali’s departure from power.The overthrow of Tunisian President Ben Ali has presented the French government with a dilemma. Paris's previous support for the dictator is now proving embarrassing for President Sarkozy, who has been forced to distance himself from his old ally. Voices calling for a complete change in France's Maghreb policy are growing louder. She felt misunderstood, she said, explaining that her words had been "distorted." Addressing the French parliament on Tuesday, Michèle Alliot-Marie, the recently appointed French foreign minister, played the role of the innocent victim. She was responding to opposition members of parliament, who had questioned the minister regarding her controversial comments on the situation in Tunisia, where President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was toppled last Friday.
