Security tight in Tunisia after Ben Ali flees
Security has been stepped up in the centre of the Tunisian capital, a day after President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted by mounting street protests.
Hundreds of troops are patrolling Tunis and a state of emergency is in force. Interim leader Mohammed Ghannouchi has said his priority is restoring order.
But looting has continued and a prison fire is reported to have killed many in the resort town of Monastir.
Mr Ghannouchi has said he would hold talks with opposition parties.
The main thoroughfare in Tunis, Avenue Habib Bourguiba, was blocked off by security forces after an overnight curfew was lifted.
Troops and tanks are protecting official buildings and the streets are largely deserted, correspondents say.
Prison fire
Overnight looting continued into Saturday in the city’s suburbs, with French-owned supermarkets among the properties targeted. Tunis’ main railway station has been damaged by fire.
Later eyewitnesses in Monastir said a fire had swept through a local prison, killing tens of inmates.
“The whole prison is on fire, the furniture, mattresses, everything,” one witness told Reuters news agency.
Tunis Carthage International Airport, which was closed amid Friday’s unrest, re-opened on Saturday.
Hundreds of tourists and other foreigners have been trapped there.
The BBC’s Wyre Davies in Tunis says people are now waiting for some indication that the interim administration is prepared to bring in widespread economic and political changes.
Late on Friday Mr Ghannouchi, who until then served as prime minister, assumed the interim presidency saying his “very first priority” was restoring security.
“We are at the service of the Tunisian people. Our country does not deserve everything that is happening.
We must regain the trust of citizens in the government,” he said.
On Saturday the Constitutional Council declared that parliamentary Speaker Foued Mebazaa should be the country’s new interim president.
It is unclear who is in charge, our correspondent says.
In the past four weeks, protests have swept the country over unemployment, food price rises and corruption. Security forces used live ammunition against protesters and dozens of people died.
Mr Ben Ali, who had been in power for 23 years, conceded power on Friday after the unrest culminated in a giant rally against him in Tunis.
He flew out of Tunisia with his family amid widespread speculation about his destination.
The French government rejected a request for his plane to land in the country. It refuelled on the Italian island of Sardinia and later landed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
A Saudi palace statement said: “Out of concern for the exceptional circumstances facing the brotherly Tunisian people and in support of the security and stability of their country… the Saudi government has welcomed President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his family to the kingdom.”
There has been little official reaction from Tunisia’s Arab neighbours to the events.
On Saturday the Arab League called on Tunisia’s political forces “to stand together and unite” to maintain peace.
The UK, the US and France are among the countries advising against non-essential travel to Tunisia.
Mr Ben Ali was only Tunisia’s second president since independence from France in 1956. He was last re-elected in 2009 with 89.62% of the vote.
Source: BBC