Tunisia plans unity government, uneasy peace holds

Two men try to remove a torn photo of former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in the center of Tunis. Tunisia sped toward a new future after its iron-fisted leader fled, with an interim president sworn in and ordering the country's first multiparty government to be formed. -AP Photo

TUNIS: Tunisian politicians were trying to form a unity government on Sunday while the army consolidated its grip on the streets of the capital two days after President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted by violent protests.

Tanks were stationed around Tunis and soldiers were guarding public buildings, but after a day of drive-by shootings and jailbreaks in which dozens of inmates were killed, residents said they were starting to feel more secure.

Last night we surrounded our neighbourhood with roadblocks and had teams checking cars. Now we are in the process of lifting the roadblocks and getting life back to normal said a man, Imed, in the citys Intilaka suburb.

The official who was in charge of security for Ben Ali is to appear in court on charges of stoking violence and threatening national security.

Sunday is not a working day in Tunisia and the streets were quiet, but some people were moving about, shopping for food. For the first time in days, a handful of commercial vehicles, vans and pick-up trucks, could be seen making deliveries.

The only occasional sounds of gunfire overnight were a marked change from the heavy shooting the previous night but analysts say there may be more protests if the opposition believes it is not sufficiently represented in a new government.

The speaker of parliament Fouad Mebazza, sworn in as interim president, has asked Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi to form a government of national unity and constitutional authorities said a presidential election shou! ld be he ld within 60 days.

Ghannouchi was due to hold more talks on Sunday to try to fill the vacuum left when Ben Ali, president for more than 23 years, fled to Saudi Arabia following a month of protests over poverty, jobs and repression that claimed scores of lives.

While there have been relatively positive noises from the talks so far, the negotiations may run into trouble when they get down to the detail of which parties get which cabinet post and how many of the old guard are included.