Tunisia aims to fill power vacuum

Some residents have formed impromptu militias to protect their homes

Tunisian political leaders have started efforts to fill the power vacuum created by the fall of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali amid mass protests.

Interim leader Foued Mebazaa – who was sworn in on Saturday – promised to form a unity government.

The country appears to be mostly quiet, although gunfire was heard in Tunis during a second overnight curfew.

The previous night had seen widespread violence, including looting, torching of buildings and deadly jail riots.

A state of emergency remains in force and there is very little economic activity. Schools, government offices and most shops are closed

The BBC’s Adam Mynott in Tunis says the immediate future of the country, thrown into unprecedented turmoil, is in the hands of the military.

Mr Mebazaa, who until Saturday was the Speaker of parliament, has asked Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi to form a national unity government.

“All Tunisians without exception and exclusion must be associated in the political process,” Mr Mebazaa said in a televised address.

Opposition leader Najib Chebbi told France’s RTL radio that he had already held talks with Mr Ghannouchi about taking part.

He said his main demand was that elections should be held “within six or seven months” under international supervision.

Under the present Tunisian constitution a presidential election must be held within 60 days.

Another opposition figure, Mustafa Ben Jaafar, told Reuters news agency that he too had been contacted and called for “real reforms”.

Further talks are expected on Sunday.

The exiled head of Tunisia’s banned Islamist party, Rached Ghannouchi, said he would return to the country within weeks.

Speaking to the BBC in London, he said Tunisians had got rid of a dictator, but they had a long way to go were a long way from bringing down the dictatorship.

The centre of Tunis has been sealed off by troops guarding key public buildings. Helicopters are patrolling overhead.

Residents in some areas have armed themselves with sticks and clubs, forming impromptu militias to protect their homes.

A resident of Nabeul, south of Tunis, Haythem Houissa, told the BBC that he had joined a volunteer group “to help clean up and guard our city”.

“The security situation is much better since yesterday,” he added.

Some of the violence is being blamed on supporters of Mr Ben Ali.

However many attacks appeared to target businesses and buildings connected with the former president and his family.

A hospital source in Tunis told AFP news agency that Imed Trabelsi, the nephew of Mr Ben Ali’s powerful wife, had been stabbed to death on Saturday.

Saturday’s deadliest incident was in Monastir, about 160km (100 miles) south of Tunis, where fire swept though a prison, killing at least 42 people.

The leader of neighbouring Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, praised Mr Ben Ali, whom he said he still considered the “legal president of Tunisia”.

“You have suffered a great loss… There is none better than Zine (Mr Ben Ali) to govern Tunisia,” he said in a speech broadcast on state television.

In the past month, protests have swept the country over unemployment, food price rises and corruption. Police used live ammunition against protesters and dozens died.

Mr Ben Ali, who had been in power for 23 years, fled to Saudi Arabia on Friday, after the unrest culminated in a giant rally against him. He was only Tunisia’s second president since independence in 1956.

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