Tension mounts in Tunisia

Police fired teargas canisters to disperse protesters in central Tunis on Monday as pressure grew for the removal of government ministers linked to ousted president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

The protesters, mostly from marginalised rural areas who had camped out overnight at the prime minister’s office, broke windows at the nearby finance ministry building.

More than a week after Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi took the reins of an interim coalition following the overthrow of Ben Ali, he and other former loyalists of the feared ruling party face growing opposition despite a series of concessions.

What shape an eventual popular leadership might take is unclear. Opposition parties exist but are not well known after decades of oppression. A hitherto banned Islamist party has called for early elections and may find support.

Police put under house arrest Abdelwahhab Abdalla, the Ben Ali political adviser in charge of monitoring the media, state television said on Monday.

Authorities said on Sunday Abdalla, who managed government appointees to state media outlets, had vanished and was sought by police.

The interim government said last week 33 members of Ben Ali’s family had been arrested. On Sunday, police arrested two confidantes of Ben Ali.  French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday that France would offer emergency aid to Tunisia as its former North African colony grapples with a transition to a new government.

In Tunis on Monday, police and army blocked off around 500 protesters who were inside the government compound in the old city, or casbah. Around 1,000 other demonstrators filled the streets and a large square nearby, unable to approach the area.

“Why don’t they let us break the barriers and join our brothers? Why do they say they will allow us the right to protest then stop us?,” said Kamal Ashour from Tunis. “Are they afraid the government will really be shaken? It seems that Ben Ali’s regime is back.”

A scuffle broke out between police and protesters when a black limousine, apparently carrying a minister, came to the compound area and protesters threw stones.

The teachers’ union called a strike on Monday, when primary schools were to reopen as part of moves to bring the country back to normal. But the level of support was not clear.

For days, protesters have gathered at the premier’s office, limited in numbers but with wider support among a population unused to free political expression.