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In Pictures
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In pictures: Time of change
Ben Ali’s exit brings down the curtain on a 23-year authoritarian era in north African country’s recent history.
Police officers, national guard members and firemen demonstrated in Tunis on Saturday in a bid to distance themselves from the toppled Ben Ali government [Reuters]
Published On 22 Jan 2011
22 Jan 2011
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One week after the overthrow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, protests continue in the Tunisian capital against the presence of his close allies in the interim government [Yasmine Ryan/ Al Jazeera]
Friday was the first of three days of mourning for the nearly 100 Tunisians who died in the uprising against Ben Ali(***)s rule [Yasmine Ryan/ Al Jazeera]
The interim government has struggled to restore a semblance of order in a country that has just undergone a political upheaval after 23 years of one-man rule [Yasmine Ryan/ Al Jazeera]
The scene was very different as recently as on last Sunday, when security forces manned roadblocks throughout Tunis in a bid to restore calm while armed groups roamed the city [Reuters]
Security guards were also evident on Sunday at the entrance to the palace in the Saudi city of Jeddah where Ben Ali and his family were staying [Reuters]
Ben Ali came to power in a bloodless coup in 1987. Initially, he was praised by many Tunisians for enacting liberal economic legislation [AFP]
But after enduring more than two decades of of his rule, Tunisians became fed up with the stagnant social order and the president(***)s tight grip on power [AFP]
Since mid-December, the country had been gripped by protests over unemployment, high food prices and government repression, long-standing issues that festered in the background [AFP]
The Tunisian government ordered security forces to disperse the protesters by firing tear-gas shells and bullets [AFP]
But the demonstrators would not budge. Instead, they demanded that their president step down from power [AFP]
Nationwide protests leading up to Ben Ali(***)s toppling led to the deaths of about 100 people, according to UN estimates, mostly in clashes with police [AFP]
Within 29 days, Tunisians were able to force their president out of the country from a position he held on to for nearly 23 years [AFP]
After being refused asylum by France, Ben Ali found refuge in Saudi Arabia on January 14, where he was later united with the rest of his family [AFP]