Tunisia's president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali flees the country

[give her dixie]

Tunisia's president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled his country tonight after weeks of mass protests culminated in a victory for people power over one of the Arab world's most repressive regimes.

Ben Ali was variously reported to be in Malta, France and Saudi Arabia at the end of an extraordinary day which had seen the declaration of a state of emergency, the evacuation of tourists of British and other nationalities, and an earthquake for the authoritarian politics of the Middle East and north Africa.

In Tunisia, prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi announced he had taken over as interim president, vowing to respect the constitution and restore stability for Tunisia's 10.5 million citizens.

"I call on the sons and daughters of Tunisia, of all political and intellectual persuasions, to unite to allow our beloved country to overcome this difficult period and to return to stability," he said in a broadcast.

But there was confusion among protesters about what will happen next, and concern that Ben Ali might return before elections could be held. "We must remain vigilant," warned an email from the Free Tunis group, monitoring developments to circumvent an official news blackout.

Ben Ali, 74, had been in power since 1987. On Thursday he announced he would not stand for another presidential term in 2014, but Tunisia had been radicalised by the weeks of violence and the killings of scores of demonstrators.

Today in the capital police fired teargas to disperse crowds demanding his immediate resignation. The state of emergency and a 12-hour curfew did little to restore calm. Analysts said the army would be crucial.

Tonight , soldiers were guarding ministries, public buildings and the state TV building. Public meetings were banned, and the security forces were authorised to fire live rounds.

Tunis's main avenues were deserted except for scores of soldiers. Protesters who had earlier been beaten and clubbed by police in the streets still sheltered in apartment buildings. Army vehicles were stationed outside the interior ministry.

Opposition leader Najib Chebbi, one of Ben Ali's loudest critics, captured the sense of historic change. "This is a crucial moment. There is a change of regime under way. Now it's the succession," he said.He added: "It must lead to profound reforms, to reform the law and let the people choose."

Al-Jazeera television, broadcasting the story across an Arab world which has been transfixed by the Tunisian drama, reported that a unnamed member of Ben Ali's wife's family had been detained by security forces at the capital's airport. Hatred of the president's close relatives, symbols of corruption and cronyism, has galvanised the opposition in recent weeks. Tunisians were riveted by revelations of US views of the Ben Ali regime in leaked WikiLeaks cables last month.

Ben Ali's western friends, adapting to the sudden change, asked for a peaceful end to the crisis. "We condemn the ongoing violence against civilians in Tunisia, and call on the Tunisian authorities to fulfil the important commitments ... including respect for basic human rights and a process of much-needed political reform," said a White House spokesman

[Shamrock Shore]

Lessons may be learned here!

[give her dixie]

Good article by my friend Yvonne Ridley.
2 years ago we travelled together through Tunisia on our way to Gaza. It was without a doubt the most policed state I have ever travelled through. The country was ruled with an iron fist, both by the regular police, and the secret police.

Following our time in Tunisia, we all came to the same conclusion that it was only going to be a matter of time before the good people in Tunisia rose up and rejected the brutal dictatorship.

That day has now come, at a heavy price. Today, reports are coming in of dozens of imates at a jail dying in a fire. However, the brutal ruler has fled the country, and for the future, things will only get better in Tunisia.

Maybe this will be the start of the demise of a few more dictators in the region, and no doubt, Mubarak is starting to get worried in Egypt. Plus, with the unrest in Algeria, they too could soon have a change in power.


Tonight we are all Tunisians


By Yvonne Ridley

Over the last few days we have seen some of the bravest people facing down some of the worst.

Armed with nothing more than a revolutionary heart and hopes of a better future they gathered and protested as government forces aimed their weapons and fired live rounds in to the crowds.

But the ammunition and the underlying threats of arrest and torture meant absolutely nothing to the masses – for they had simply lost their fear.

It was the final testament to the brutality of a dictator who has had the support of European leaders and various presidents of the United States.

And that the Tunisian President Zine El-Abedine Ben Ali fled from his country like a rat up a drainpipe after 23 brutal years spoke volumes about the character of the man himself.

If he had one ounce of the courage his own people displayed, he too would have stayed but most of these tyrants are gutless with the moral fibre of a dung beetle.

The demise of Ben Ali came when police prevented an unemployed 26-year-old graduate from selling fruit without a licence. Mohammad Bouazizi turned himself in to a human torch on December 17 and died of the horrific burns in Sidi Bouzid, in central Tunisia.

It was the final straw, a defining moment which ignited rallies, marches and demonstrations across Tunisia.

And revelations from Wikileaks cables exposing the corrupt and extravagant lifestyle of Ben Ali and his grasping wife fanned the flames of unbridled anger from a people who were also in the grip of poverty.

I knew it was coming. I saw the burning desire for freedom in the eyes of the courageous people of Ghafsa when the Viva Palestina Convoy entered the country in February 2009 on its way to Gaza.

Our convoy witnessed the menacing secret police intimidate the crowds to stop them from gathering to cheer us on.

  That they stood their ground to cheer us on prompted me to leave my vehicle and hug all the women who had turned out. We exchanged cards and small gifts and then, to my horror, I discovered 24 hours later that every woman I had embraced in the streets of Gafsa had been taken away and questioned.

In another town this vast army of spies, thugs and enforcers even tried to stop us from praying in a local mosque for Friday prayers, such was their hatred of all things Islamic. When we prayed in the street they hung their heads in shame and walked away in the face of a much greater force than their own.

Human rights organizations have constantly condemned and exposed the brutality of the Ben Ali regime but that has not stopped America and European leaders from intervening or putting on pressure to stop the brutality.

Sadly, it serves western interests to have a people brutalized and subjugated.

Now Tunisia is minus one dictator but it is still in a state of emergency. The next few days and weeks are going to be crucial for the Tunisian people who deserve freedom and liberty. My God, they've paid for it with their own blood and we must always remember their martyrs.

None of the politicians, secret police or other odious government forces will emerge from this period with any honour and quite a few are already cowering in the shadows.

But perhaps the biggest show of cowardice in this whole sorry episode has come from The White House.

Not one word of condemnation, not one word of criticism, not one word urging restraint came from Barak Obama or Hillary Clinton as live ammunition was fired into crowds of unarmed men, women and children in recent weeks.

And news of the corrupt, mafia-like regime would not have come as a surprise to either of them. We know this thanks to the Wikileaks cables written by US Ambassador Robert Godec who revealed in one memo: "Corruption in the inner circle is growing."

But, as the injustices and atrocities continued there was not one squeak from the most powerful nation on earth ... until America's dear friend, Ben Ali had scuttled from the country.

The reality is the US Administration likes dealing with tyrants and even encourages despotic behaviour. Egypt is one of the biggest testaments to this with its prisons full of political opposition leaders. Hosni Mubarak is Uncle Sam's enforcer and biggest recipient of aid next to the Zionist State.

Pakistan's treatment of its own people is little better. Remember when US Ambassador Anne Patterson in Islamabad wrote in one Wikileak cable about the human rights abuses carried out by the Pakistan military? Patterson then went on to advise Washington to avoid comment on these incidents.

But now the US has made a comment on the situation in Tunisia ... but only when Ben Ali was 30,000 feet in the air did White House spokesman Mike Hammer issue a statement which read: "We condemn the ongoing violence against civilians in Tunisia, and call on the Tunisian authorities to fulfill the important commitments ... including respect for basic human rights and a process of much-needed political reform."

Unbelievable. Too little, too late, Mr President. Actually that statement could have been uttered any time during the last US presidencies since Ronald Reagan.

But as I say, America couldn't give a stuff about the human rights of the people of the Maghreb, Pakistan, Egypt and Palestine to name but a few.

When US condemnation finally came through the tyrant had fled leaving behind more than 60 civilian martyrs and countless more injured.

Tomorrow I will go to the Tunisian Embassy in London as I have done previously and stand shoulder to shoulder with my Tunisian brothers and sisters and their supporters. We will remember the dead, we will pay tribute to the brave and courageous many who are still in the process of sezing back their country and we will pray that no tyrant will sleep easy in his bed from this moment on.

Tonight we are all Tunisians.

[give her dixie]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVqRrVLhKxs&playnext=1&list=PLC5D701C0C9FDB83B&index=2

Go to 2 mins 45 in this video to see an example of what we faced in Tunisia, and why the people rose up and said "Enough Is Enough", and threw out their brutal dictator.

[Carmen Stateside]

Is that a Donaghmore jersey yer man has on him in background at 3 min 40m?? 

[lawnseed]

i thought it was ironic that the irish biffo government sought to get its citizens out of a country of poverty and corruption where the leader was refusing to feck off.. sounded familar