Archive: tunisia
3rd January 2011
Mohamed Bouazizi, the jobless young man who set fire to himselfin Tunisia last month triggering a wave of anti-government demonstrations across the country, died of his injuries last night, according to a report on the nawaat website.
Bouazizi, 26, was selling fruit and vegetables in the street to… Read more
2nd January 2011
There are calls for a general strike in Tunisia tomorrow (Monday), according to various posts on Twitter. Meanwhile, more and more videos are appearing on the nawaat blog showing protests around the country.
I was particularly fascinated by one video showing a small but imaginative protest at an… Read more
1st January 2011
The Tunisian regime seems to be clutching at straws. Yesterday, the official news agency reported that six local organisations, including the Road Traffic Association and the Professional Association of Banks, have congratulated President Ben Ali on hisrecent speech.
They allegedly think it "… Read more
28th December 2010
Tunisian demonstrators confront the police by singing the national anthem
With the disturbances in Tunisia showing no sign of abating, President Ben Ali decided to address his people on television last night. But his seven-minute speech, also relayed to the wider Arab world via al-Jazeera, didn… Read more
27th December 2010
Demonstrations continued in Tunisia over the weekend and have now entered their second week – an extraordinary development in Ben Ali's police state.
Here is a YouTube video showing protests outside a government building in Kairouan, 120km north-west of Sid Bouzid, and here isanother at an… Read more
26th December 2010
Protests in Tunisia spread to the capital, Tunis, yesterday when human rights activists, trade unionists and students held a demonstration in the Place Mohamed Ali in solidarity with the people of Sid Bouzid. The nawaat.org website has videos and photographs.
Meanwhile, it is reported (via… Read more
25th December 2010
A teenage protester was shot dead by police yesterday as rioting continued in Tunisia.
Demonstrators in Menzel Bouzaiene reportedly set fire to three police cars, a train locomotive, the local headquarters of the ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally party and a national guard post.
The interior… Read more
24th December 2010
Following an "incident" in the town of Sid Bouzid, Tunisia issued a statement to clarify "the groundless rumours spread by certain sides". It said:
"The matter has to do with a procedure carried out by the city of Sidi Bouzid’s municipal regulations services, as part of their ordinary… Read more
9th December 2010
"By many measures, Tunisia should be a close US ally. But it is not." That was the blunt message from the American ambassador in Tunis, in a document released by Wikileaks.
It was written by the departing ambassador, Robert Godec, in July last year, apparently as a briefing for his successor, the… Read more
5th December 2010
In Tunisia, 30-year-old Mohamed Sakhr El-Matri is increasingly viewed as a possible successor to his dictatorial father-in-law, President Ben Ali. The American ambassador in Tunis met him last year and wrote a report marked "secret" which has now been published by Wikileaks:
El-Matri presented… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
