Tunisia police fire tear gas at protesters

Tunisian police have fired tear gas at protesters who were demanding the removal of all allies of former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

The protesters had defied an overnight curfew to gather outside the offices of Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi - one of the men they want to quit.

Meanwhile, two politicians close to Mr Ben Ali have been detained.

Former adviser Abdelaziz bin Dhia and ex-Interior Minister Abdallah Qallal are under house arrest, reports say.

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Tunisia protesters demand change, prisoners freed

Tunisian opposition politician Moncef Marzouki, the leader of a small opposition party who returned to Tunisia from exile in France this week, attends a protest in Sidi Bouzid, the hometown of Mohamed Bouazizi January 19,2011. Bouazizi, a vegetable seller, set himself alight on December 17, igniting protests that forced ex-president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee Tunisia.

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 jewelry. 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.

Only that, they said, could satisfy the hopes of their "Jasmine Revolution," which has delivered a shock to autocrats across the Arab world.

In Sidi Bouzid, the hardscrabble central Tunisian town where the revolt against Ben Ali erupted after a vegetable seller, insulted by police, set himself on fire, residents said the changes at the top had not gone far enough.

"Ben Ali's gang remains in the RDC and is trying to steal the revolution and the blood of the martyrs," said Lazhar Gharbi, a head teacher and unionist in the town.

"We want the dissolution of this party. This is the solution, and we want to hold its members responsible for their corruption," he told Reuters.

JOURNALIST SAYS TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT

Taoufik Ben Brik, a journalist who spent six months in jail over assault charges which his supporters, including international rights groups, said were trumped up to punish him for writing articles critical of Ben Ali, announced he would run for president.

"Ben Ali's departure was a moment of jubilation and joy for me. It was a big victory for freedom," Ben Brik said in an interview on Wednesday. "I opened the champagne to celebrate that moment."

But like many of Ben Ali's staunchest opponents, Ben Brik said he was not happy that many of the ministers in the new government have a background in the RCD.

"What I say is that the RCD should leave and I also say to these puppets of Ben Ali to go and join him in Saudi Arabia," he told Reuters.

Members of the interim leadership who held senior roles in the RCD have rushed to distance themselves from it. Interim President Fouad Mebazza and Prime Minister Mohamed al-Ghannouchi both quit the part on Tuesday.

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Old guard keep Tunisian top jobs

Tunisia faces more unrest as it promised to free political prisoners and open its government to opposition forces long shut out of power - but with the old guard still in key posts.

Demonstrators carrying signs reading "GET OUT!" demanded that the former ruling party be banished altogether - a sign of more troubles for the new unity government as security forces struggle to contain violent reprisals, shootings and looting three days after the president fled under pressure from the streets.

Even before the new government was announced on Monday, security forces fired tear gas to repel demonstrators who see the change of power as Tunisia's first real chance at democracy.

President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on Friday after a month of protests over unemployment and corruption led to his downfall after 23 years in power.

The government said 78 civilians had died in the month of unrest - an announcement that underlined the depth of the violence in the usually placid Mediterranean tourist destination.

Under autocratic Ben Ali, Tunisia was effectively under one-party rule. The new government includes three ministers from the opposition - a first in Tunisia - but members of Ben Ali's RCD party held on to most of the jobs, including the most important posts.

Hundreds of stranded tourists were still being evacuated and foreign airlines gradually resumed flights that were halted when Tunisian airspace closed amid the upheaval.

Besides the civilians killed in the month-long protests, interior minister Ahmed Friaa said 94 were injured - a jump from the previous official death toll of 23. The new figure does not include members of security forces, some of whom also died, Mr Friaa said.

Among victims of the violence was French photojournalist Loucas Von Zabiensky-Mebrouk, 32, who died three days after being hit in the face with a tear gas canister.

The troubles have hit the tourist-based Tunisian economy, which Mr Friaa said has lost £1.3 billion because of the unrest. Resort towns like Hammamet were boarded up and under police control, said Norredine Gohdbani, who worked in a restaurant there and had returned to stay with his family in the capital Tunis.

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