Tunisia arrests coup plotters as unity talks begin

TUNISIAN authorities yesterday denounced a plot against the state by backers of ousted strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, as talks on national unity got under way while heavy gunfire broke out here.

Officials arrested the general in charge of Ben Ali’s security apparatus, Ali Seriati, for plotting against the new leadership amid fears of a backlash by supporters of the deposed president.

Ben Ali’s nephew, Kais Ben Ali, was meanwhile arrested earlier yesterday along with 10 others in the central town of Msaken (the Ben Ali family’s ancestral home) overnight for “shooting at random” from police cars.

The developments came as Tunisia’s main parties held talks on forming a national unity government following the abrupt departure after 23 years in power of Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia after a wave of protests against his regime.

In Tunis, security forces exchanged fire with unidentified attackers hidden inside buildings, AFP reporters said. The shooting kicked off after an exchange of fire outside the headquarters of the main opposition party.

Around 1,500 protesters, meanwhile, held a peaceful rally in the town of Regueb in which they slammed the political talks in the capital saying the new government would not be truly democratic, a local trade union leader said. The army broke up the rally, as protests are banned under the rules of a state of emergency declared on Friday. Regueb was the scene of several violent protests.

Representatives of two parties banned under Ben Ali — the Communist party and the Islamist Ennahdha party — were excluded from the government talks.

The head of Ennahdha, Rached Ghannouchi, who lives in exile in London, told AFP earlier he now intended to return to Tunisia.

Some cafes had re-opened earlier yesterday in the centre of Tunis — the scene of violent clashes in the days running up to Ben Ali’s abrupt departure on Friday — as the army continued its lockdown of the city centre.

“There are major food shortages. We don’t have enough bread and flour. We risk a food crisis if this continues,” said Najla, who was filling her basket with meat and vegetables at the main market in Tunis.

Long queues were seen outside the few bakeries and grocery stores open.

A French photographer from the EPA agency hit in the head by a tear gas canister during the protests died of his injuries yesterday

The Arab League said the overthrow of Ben Ali was a “historic” event, but many Arab governments were cautious about the dramatic events in Tunisia — the first ouster of a leader of the Arab world under pressure from street protests.