The departure of the Tunisian President didn’t calm the street. Hours after President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali fled the country and Prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi announced he is “temporarily in charge”, the situation appears to be out of control in Tunisia.
Multiple, cases of looting are signalled in the capital where inhabitants organize militias to protect themselves and their properties. Helicopters were seen patrolling on the city. It is said that properties belonging to family members and friends of President Ben Ali were attacked, looted and destroyed. As the security situation is considerably degrading in Tunis, it appears to be worst in other cities: troops and security services are converging and focusing on the capital where the government must quickly re-establish order and safety.
Demonstrations are said to be ongoing in Qasrin and Gabes. Al-Jazeera said tonight that a “wind of panic” is perceptible in Tunis. Unconfirmed reports say President Ben Ali has landed in Saudi Arabia after France refused to authorize him to enter the country. Sources told us that Mohamed Ghannouchi asked two opponents, Najib Chabbi et Mustapha Ben Jaafar, to enter the new government. But in the same time, several trade unions called the Tunisians to the “civil disobedience” and the Islamists entered the game.
Tonight, Ennahda, the (illegal) Islamist political party of Rachid Gannouchi called the Tunisians to “destroy Ben Ali regime, dissolve his political party and install a new regime. Rachid Ghanouchi shares the same ideology as the Muslim Brotherhood and the party he created with others was involved inn terror acts by the end of the eighties. It is impossible to assess when and how the authorities will be able to take the control back, but one could estimate that lootings and insecurity will drive the Tunisian society to support the new government. If not, and if secular opposition and Islamists join their forces, Tunisia will enter in unchartered and extremely dangerous waters.
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