Tunisia’s president made it clear his forces would no longer use lethal force against demonstrators Demonstrators are gathering for a march through the centre of the Tunisian capital, Tunis, as pressure mounts on President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
On Thursday night, Mr Ben Ali – who has governed Tunisia since 1987 – announced he would stand down in 2014.
His speech came after weeks of protests which have left at least 23 dead.
Opposition parties gave a cautious welcome to the news. Trade unions have called on people to observe a general strike on Friday.
Human rights groups say more than 60 people have died in weeks of unrest across the country, as security forces responded to people protesting over corruption, unemployment levels and high food prices.
The BBC’s Adam Mynott in Tunis says early indications are that many people in Tunis have heeded the unions’ call to protest.
In his speech on Thursday night, Mr Ben Ali said there was “no presidency for life” in Tunisia.
However, our correspondent says there is a degree of scepticism as to whether deeds will follow on from words.
Mr Ben Ali, 74, is only Tunisia’s second president since independence from France in 1956. He was last re-elected in 2009 with 89.62% of the vote.
In his speech, he said he did not intend to amend the constitution to remove the upper age limit for presidential candidates, which would have allowed him to stand for a further term in 2014.
The president, who earlier this week had blamed the unrest on “terrorists”, also said he felt “very, very deep and massive regret” over the deaths of civilians in the protests.
Mr Ben Ali pledged to take action on food prices and end internet censorship He said he had ordered troops to stop firing on protesters except in self defence, and pledged to take action on food prices, which have gone up fourfold in recent weeks.
Afterwards, Mr Ben Ali’s supporters took to the streets of Tunis, cheering and sounding car horns.
In a further overture, foreign minister Kamel Mourjane said it would be possible to form a government of national unity involving the opposition.
Speaking to France’s Europe 1 radio on Friday, he also held out the possibility of early parliamentary elections.
Tunisia’s main opposition leader, Najib Chebbi, called the president’s announcement “very good”, but said he was awaiting “concrete details”.
Mustapha Ben Jaafar, head of the Democratic Forum for Work and Liberties, said the speech “opens up possibilities”.
But human rights activist Mohamed Abbou said he believed President Ben Ali was “fooling the Tunisians with promises that have no tomorrow”.
The protests began in mid-December in the southern town of Sidi Bouzid, after an unemployed graduate set himself on fire when police tried to prevent him from selling vegetables without a permit. He died a few weeks later.
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