Tunisia names interim successor for ousted president

RIYADH/TUNIS (Agencies)

Tunis witnesses mass prison break & PM slams looting

Tunisia’s ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was officially swept aside Saturday and the
speaker of parliament named as his interim successor by the country’s Constitutional Council. The council declared the head of state had “definitively” left power and appointed Foued Mebazaa acting president under the constitution in a communique published by the official news agency TAP. The council made its ruling at the request of Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi.

Ben Ali in Saudi Arabia

Ben Ali signed a decree handing Ghannouchi interim presidential powers before flying out of Tunis to refuge in Saudi Arabia. But his nomination under article 56 of the constitution had still left open the door to his return and was contested by jurists.

The council on Saturday based its ruling on article 57 of the constitution, which lays down a strict procedure for the transition, including the calling of elections within a maximum of 60 days.

Article 56 does not require elections to be called and does not give an acting president the right to run for president.

When he was named, Ghannouchi did not mention elections, committing himself only to carrying out decisions taken by Ben Ali, which included calling early elections within six months.

The council’s announcement came as demonstrations and rallies were getting under way in towns across Tunisia demanding the departure of Ghannouchi, in the job for less than 24 hours.

The marches were going ahead despite a state of emergency barring any assembly on public roads and giving security forces the right to open fire on anyone violating the ban.

Early on Saturday, Saudi Arabia officially announced that it was hosting toppled Ben Ali and his family after they fled their country.

A palace statement carried by the official SPA news agency confirmed that Ben Ali arrived early Saturday in the kingdom after fleeing Tunisia on Friday in a dramatic end to his 23 years in power following deadly protests.

“Out of concern for the exceptional circumstances facing the brotherly Tunisian people and in support of the security and stability of their country… the Saudi government has welcomed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his family to the kingdom,” the statement said.

“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia stands totally alongside the brotherly Tunisian people and hopes that they will close ranks in order to overcome this difficult period in their history,” the statement added.

A Saudi source said earlier that Ben Ali’s plane had landed overnight in the Red Sea city of Jeddah but did not specify who had accompanied him to the ultra-conservative Saudi kingdom.

“The plane with President Ben Ali on board has landed in Jeddah,” the Saudi source, who declined to be identified, told AFP.

An airport source said hat Ben Ali left the plane and went to the airport’s VIP lounge.

Mass prison break

According to a doctor there are around 42 killed people in a Tunisian prison fire, as inmates staged a mass breakout from the prison which is located in the Mahdia town, in Monastir east in the country on Saturday.

In another report, it said that at least 12 people were killed and 15 others seriously burned in the incident, a hospital official said.

“They tried to escape and the police fired on them. Now there are tens of people dead and everybody has escaped,” said a local man, Imed, who lives 200 meters (yards) from the jail.

He said the prison in Mahdia, 140 km (85 miles) south of Tunis, was holding 1,200 prisoners. Two other witnesses also said tens of people were killed in the breakout.

	The legal problems are not as important as saving the country according to the will of the people
Tunisian PM Mohammed Ghannouchi

PM slams looting

Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi denounced on Saturday the widespread looting that hit the country after Ben Ali fled the country a day earlier.

“It is unacceptable that the looting continues,” Ghannouchi said in an interview Saturday morning on al-Jazeera television, speaking in his capacity as acting president.

“We are making every effort to restore order throughout the country,” Ghannouchi said, while claiming that “certain (unspecified) parties” had “infiltrated” street demonstrations.

A state of emergency was declared in Tunisia on Friday but this did not prevent another night of looting. Police sealed off the heart of the capital, Tunis, to prevent any gatherings.

Ghannouchi promised to work with the opposition to examine the country’s constitutional change and to organize elections.

“The legal problems are not as important as saving the country according to the will of the people,” Ghannouchi said on Al-Jazeera, stressing that there will be elections soon.

He also said Tunisian dissidents living abroad could now return home.

“They can come whenever they want. It’s their country,” he said in response to a question about them.

He said Ben Ali’s departure was “final” and that “other arrangements will be made,” without giving details.