Monday, January 24, 2011

'Liberation caravan' travels to Tunis from Sidi Bouzid to ask the government to go

Hundreds of Tunisians have defied a nighttime curfew and travelled hundreds of kilometres in what they call a "Liberation caravan" to join protesters in the country's capital, where anger at the interim government continues to grow.
The protesters entered the capital, Tunis, on Sunday, tore down the barbed wire surrounding the office of interim prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi and demanded his government to go. The protesters started their march on Saturday night from Menzel Bouzaiane in the province of  Sidi Bouzid, and walked 50 kilometers before they boarded busses that brought them to Tunis. Menzel Bouzaiane was the place where Mohammed Bouazizi in December set fire to himself, what triggered the protests which ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
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Tunsia's TAP news agency reported on Sunday that allies of Ben Ali - Abdelaziz bin Dhia, Ben Ali's spokesman and chief adviser, and Abdallah Qallal, a former interior minister and head of Tunisia's appointed upper parliamentary house - had been placed under house arrest. The agency said police were searching for Abdelwahhab Abdalla, Ben Ali's political adviser, who has disappeared, It also said that Larbi Nasra, the owner of Hannibal TV and his son have been arrested on suspicion of "treason" for working on Ben Ali's return from Saudi Arabia (where the deposed president currently is currently in exile). Nasra is related to Ben Ali's wife, Leila. 
Canada  announced that the family of Ben Ali is not welcome in Canada. Ben Ali's son in law Sakhr Materi has a villa in Montreal (picture) which he bought two years ago for 2,5 million Canadian dollars.

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