Tunisia: New Government

 As Violence Continues 

The Tunisian Prime Minister has named a new government, as violent protests continue

 

Mohammed Ghannouchi said he would remain in his position as head of the unity government until a general election is held within six months.

All political prisoners will be freed under the new regime and the information ministry will also be abolished.

Mr Ghannouchi also pledged to allow all political parties and to lift a ban on the country's main human rights group.

In addition, anyone suspected of corruption or of having amassed huge wealth under the previous government would be investigated, he said.

Meanwhile, interior minister Ahmed Friaa has revealed 78 people have now died in the violence, and 94 civilians have been injured.

Members of the security forces have also been killed in protests, but Mr Friaa did not say how many.

The new government sees the current ministers of defense, interior and foreign affairs keeping their posts, while members of the opposition also join.

The announcement came as protesters in Tunis demanded that members of the ruling RDC party be excluded from the future government.

Soldiers fired tear gas, water cannon and live rounds to disperse them, but the protests did not match the levels of violence seen last week.

Meanwhile Foreign Office Minister David Lidlington told the House of Commons that around 1,000 Britons were still in Tunisia, but some had chosen to remain.

He said: "The advice I was given by the Embassy was that there are some holidaymakers who are saying they would prefer to stay in Tunis and see if there is a chance that things do calm down there."

Shadow Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper had accused the Government of being too slow to change its travel advice in reaction to demonstrations in the country.

She said many travellers were put in a "confusing and alarming position" when advice from the Foreign Office conflicted with what they were being told by their travel operators.

Around 3,000 Britons, the majority of whom were enjoying package holidays, fled over the weekend on emergency flights.

The North African country has been in turmoil since bloody protests forced president Zine al Abidine Ben Ali to flee to Saudi Arabia on Friday.

The interior minister said 78 people had been killed in the violence.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said he was "extremely concerned" about the unrest and urged the international community to help bring stability.

There has been a series of self-immolation in Africa today and over the weekend, apparently imitating that of a 26-year-old man that triggered the current protests in Tunisia.

In Egypt, a man set fire to himself outside the country's parliament.

There has also been a case in Mauritania and four self-immolation were reported to have happened in Algeria over the weekend, where there have been similar protests to those going on in Tunisia.

 Tensions continue in Tunis after a weekend of violence

In some Tunis neighborhoods, residents set up barricades over the weekend and organized their own overnight patrols, armed with baseball bats and clubs, to deter looters.

On Saturday, around 1,000 prison inmates escaped and dozens were killed as they staged a mass jailbreak in the coastal town of Mahdia.

Elsewhere at another jail south of Tunis, 42 people died after fires broke out.

A group of Swedish hunters are recovering after being attacked by a mob who accused them of being foreign terrorists.

Mr Ben Ali's fall sent shockwaves through the Arab world, whose autocratic leaders preside over similarly repressive governments.

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