By Tarek Amara/ Reuters TUNIS: A Tunisian court ruled on Wednesday that the party of former President Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali be dissolved, triggering street celebrations as one of the last vestiges of the ousted leader’s era was dismantled. The ruling will stop the party, whose activities had already been suspended, putting forward a candidate in …
By Pierre Buhler PARIS: Tunisia’s “Jasmine Revolution” is still unfolding, but we can already read into it lessons about democracy and democratization that extend far beyond the Maghreb. To set the Jasmine Revolution in historical perspective, we must recall June 4, 1989 – that pivotal Sunday when the Poles voted the communists out of power …
By Dina Zayed / Reuters CAIRO: When street protests ousted the Tunisian president, 26-year-old Egyptian Sabah first heard about it in a call from a friend who told her: “Switch on Al Jazeera.” The riots that overthrew Zein El-Abidine Ben Ali and shocked the Arab world, were swiftly caught by the Qatar-based channel. Before many …
By Tamim Elyan CAIRO: The Tunisian revolution challenged stereotypes of the stagnant political scene associated with the Arab world and can now set a model for democratic transformation for the region, a roundtable discussion concluded Sunday. Speaking at the discussion held at the Arab Alternatives Forum for Political Studies, experts hailed the role of the …
By Thibauld Malterre/ AFP TUNIS: “The Kasbah is the Bastille of Tunisia, and we are going to bring it down,” says a young demonstrator, among hundreds who spent the night outside the office of the prime minister, demanding he quits. Wrapped in blankets and fed by locals, the group defied a curfew and the cold …
By Kaouther Larbi / AFP TUNIS: Tunisian women are watching warily should the popular revolt that ousted the authoritarian president also unravel women’s rights bolstered by his secular regime in this predominantly Muslim country. “I’m scared of the return of the Islamists,” said Sonia, a 35-year-old government official who declined to give her last name, as …
By Imed Lamloum and Thibauld Malterre/AFP TUNIS: Thousands of anti-government protesters rallied outside Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi’s office on Sunday, calling for him to quit after the downfall of the north African state’s 23-year regime. “The people have come to bring down the government,” the protesters chanted as they brandished pictures of some of the …
By Radwan Masmoudi WASHINGTON, DC: There has been a democratic revolution in Tunisia over the past four weeks. This is a new and exciting era in Tunisian history, and an example for other countries of the Arab world. Unfortunately, however, it all started when a 26-year-old university graduate set himself on fire on Dec. 17 in …
SIDI BOUZID: Mohammed Bouazizi climbed onto his fruit cart, doused himself with fuel and flicked on a lighter — a protest that set off Tunisia’s revolution and has left his family bereft but proud. "My son set himself alight and took me away with him too," said his mother Mannoubia, as she wept in the …
By Mohamed Hasni/ AFP TUNIS: Tunisia’s army has emerged from the month of unrest that toppled Zine El Abidine Ben Ali with its reputation burnished and the population full of praise after it refused to open fire on protesters. The army’s reported resistance to Ben Ali’s orders to fire on the protesters is also credited with …
By Tamim Elyan CAIRO: A 35-year-old employee attempted to set himself ablaze Wednesday morning in front of the Cairo governor’s office but was prevented by security before he caught fire. Hazem Abdel Fattah, an employee at Mostorod Water Company, said during preliminary investigations that he had problems with his employer. Opposition and human rights activists said …
By Tom Pfeiffer / Reuters CAIRO: The absence of Islamist slogans from Tunisia’s pro-democracy revolt punches a hole in the argument of many Arab autocrats that they are the bulwark stopping religious radicals sweeping to power. Ousted strongman Zein El-Abidine Ben Ali spent much of his 23-year rule crushing Islamist opposition groups who opposed his government’s …
By AFP RIYADH: Ousted Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been barred from any political activity relating to his country while he shelters in Saudi Arabia, Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal said Wednesday. “This act (of sheltering Ben Ali) should not lead to any kind of activity in Tunisia from the kingdom… There are …
By AFP SHARM EL-SHEIKH: The Tunisian transitional government’s only ambition is to prepare for a free election and reforms after the Tunisian people “had their say”, Foreign Minister Kamel Morjane said on Tuesday. “The Tunisian people have had their say and won in this popular uprising,” he told reporters in the Egyptian resort town of …
By AFP VIENNA: A regime change in Egypt is “inevitable” following the popular uprising in Tunisia, Egyptian opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei said Tuesday. “It is inevitable. Change must come,” ElBaradei told the Austrian news agency APA in an interview. Last week, veteran Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was forced to flee the country …
By Salah Nasrawi / AP CAIRO: The head of the Arab League called on rich Arab countries to extend a helping hand to their needy brothers as the turmoil in Tunisia cast a shadow over the Arab economic summit due to open in Egypt later this week. The summit was meant to be a platform …
By Tamim Elyan and Abdel-Rahman Hussein CAIRO: One outcome of the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia has been the expectancy that similar civil revolts might be replicated throughout the region, as the autocratic rule and economic ills that spurred protest in Tunisia are very much apparent in various other Arab countries. Following Tunisia’s recent revolution, Egypt …
By Paul Taylor/ Reuters PARIS: Tunisia’s economy will be purged legally of the grip of overthrown president Zine El-Abedine Ben Ali’s extended family, and is well placed to flourish, a leading Tunisian economist said on Monday. Moncef Cheikhrouhou, forced to sell his shares in a family press group to a relative of the president and …
By Tamim Elyan CAIRO: A 50-year-old set himself on fire Tuesday in front of the Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center in downtown Cairo. The man was identified as Mohamed Hassan, a resident of Sayyeda Zeinab district. He was transferred to Mounira Hospital and found to have superficial burns on his right leg with 5 …
By Marwa Al-A’asar CAIRO: A 50-year old man reportedly set himself on fire Monday morning outside the People’s Assembly (PA) building in downtown Cairo. “At about 9 am I saw flames near the parliament. But I could not figure out how the situation was like from where I was standing,” an eye witness who works …
By Bouazza Ben Bouazza and Elaine Ganley /AP TUNIS: Tunisia’s prime minister announced a national unity government on Monday, hoping to quell simmering unrest following the ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali amid huge street protests. Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, a longtime ally of Ben Ali, and several top ministers retained their posts …
By Hadeel Al-Shalchi / AP CAIRO: Celebrations over the Tunisian president’s ouster spread Saturday as the popular uprising raised hopes throughout the Arab world that it could inspire pressures for reforms across a region dominated by authoritative regimes. But while Middle East leaders may face bolder calls for change — such as chants against Egypt’s …
By Simon Martelli/ AFP KHARTOUM: Sudanese Islamist opposition leader Hassan Al-Turabi said Monday that a Tunisia-style uprising is “likely” in the north amid mounting economic woes and fears over the looming secession of the south. In an interview with AFP, Turabi, a one-time key mentor turned bitter opponent of President Omar Al-Bashir, warned that if …
By AFP SHARM EL-SHEIKH: Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Sunday downplayed fear that a Tunisian-style popular revolt could spread to other Arab countries, calling it “nonsense.” “The talk about the spread of what happened in Tunisia to other countries is nonsense. Each society has its own circumstances,” Aboul Gheit told reporters on the …
By AP CAIRO: Tunisia’s foreign minister will brief Arab leaders meeting in Egypt this week on the upheaval surrounding the Tunisian president’s ouster. Kamal Merjan will attend the Arab Economic Summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Shiekh on Wednesday. Arab League Deputy Secretary-General Ahmed Ben Heli says Merjan will update the leaders on …
By Hamza Hendawi /AP CAIRO: An Egyptian man set himself on fire Monday outside the country’s parliament building in central Cairo in an apparent protest, security officials said. The incident appeared to be an attempt to copy the self-immolation last month of a 26-year-old Tunisian, whose death triggered the protests that have toppled Tunisia’s authoritarian …
By Farah Yousry CAIRO: As jokes comparing the Egyptian regime with its Tunisia counterpart abounded on the streets, serious open discussion of a potential revolution in Egypt was harder to find. Cautious happiness was the best description of the most prevalent sentiment on Egypt’s streets after Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia’s president for over …
By Christophe de Roquefeuil /AFP CAIRO: The ousting of Tunisia’s president after violent protests is a stark warning to authoritarian regimes across the Arab world, whose people have long voiced similar grievances, analysts said. A joke making the rounds in Egypt shortly after the news that the Tunisian leader, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, had …
By Dario Thuburn /AFP TUNIS: The security chief of ousted Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been arrested for plotting against the North African state’s new leadership, an official told AFP on Sunday. “General Ali Seriati has been placed under arrest,” the official said. Seriati was a key figure in the security apparatus …
By Marwa Al-A’asar CAIRO: Police forces prevented Sunday dozens of former MPs, activists and opposition leaders from reaching the Tunisian embassy in the central Zamalek neighborhood. Following a press conference held at Al-Wafd opposition party that announced the formation of a public parliament, dozens of opposition leaders and activists headed to Zamalek in a bid …
