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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/wo...27tunisia.html


Tunisia Issues Warrant for Arrest of Ousted Leader
Moises Saman for The New York Times

A young man injured during clashes between protesters and the Tunisian police was carried away in a wheelchair near the office of the prime minister in central Tunis.
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: January 26, 2011

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TUNIS — The interim government in Tunisia has issued an international arrest warrant for the overthrown president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, and members of his family for financial offenses, the justice minister said Wednesday, as protesters continued their call to rid the government of cabinet members connected to Mr. Ben Ali.
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Fethi Belaid/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

People fled tear gas during clashes with security forces in front of Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi’s office in Tunis on Wednesday.

The warrant has been sent to Interpol. Meanwhile, Switzerland announced that it has blocked funds worth tens of millions of Swiss francs connected to the Ben Ali family, but did not provide further details.

In a country where it is novel for public officials to face a free press, the justice minister, Lazhar Karoui Chebbi, announced the warrant in a long monologue at the head of a conference table surrounded by throngs of journalists whose subsequent questions quickly descended into a shouting match. Mr. Chebbi was once allied with Mr. Ben Ali.

As the minister spoke, the chants of protesters calling for the release of political prisoners came in through the windows, while the families of prisoners thronged the steps to the ministry and the hall outside the room.

Despite a call for calm from pro-government demonstrators, the police fired tear gas at protesters who massed outside the offices of the prime minister to demand the dissolution of his government.

The turbulence came as the interim authorities prepared to announced changes in the government, which protesters say includes too many ministers, including Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, carried over from the administration of Mr. Ben Ali.

In a square outside the prime minister’s offices, some demonstrators among a crowd of more than 1,000 hurled rocks at the police as billows of tear gas enfolded them, according to witnesses and security forces, and several protesters were taken to the hospital. But the police cleared only a side street and left the protest in the square to continue, surrounded by army soldiers watching from the sidelines.

The confrontation seemed again to raise the question of what would satisfy protesters here whose example in recent days seemed to provide inspiration to antigovernment marchers in Egypt calling for the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak.

Demonstrators in Lebanon against the Beirut Parliament’s election of a new prime backed by Hezbollah are fueling the impression of a region in turmoil.

On Tuesday in Tunis, after days of antigovernment protests, dozens marched in the capital to show their support for the interim government that replaced Mr. Ben Ali, pleading with their fellow citizens to give the temporary leadership time to hold elections.

But they remained vastly outnumbered by more than a thousand protesters demanding the dissolution of the government, angry at its continued domination by former members of Mr. Ben Ali’s ruling party.

The two groups scuffled briefly.

The state news agency also reported that another Tunisian had attempted to set himself on fire in the impoverished interior city of Gefsa. It was the first instance of an attempt at self-immolation since a peddler burned himself to death, setting off the country’s revolt. More than a dozen people in North Africa and the Middle East have set themselves on fire since the Tunisian revolution started.

The interim government, which has pledged to hold free elections in six months, appeared to be attempting to wait out the protests. In efforts to placate the demonstrators, the government announced a plan to spend over $350 million compensating those injured in the unrest, the families of people who were killed, and craftsmen and traders whose businesses have suffered during the revolt.

There was also sporadic evidence that not all of the police were abiding by the interim government’s pledges to respect press freedoms. Moises Saman, a freelance photojournalist with the Magnum agency, working in Tunis for The New York Times, was mildly injured when he was assaulted by about a half-dozen police officers Tuesday evening at dusk. He was attempting to photograph a group of police officers beating a man in an alley.

Alan Cowell and Marlise Simons contributed reporting from Paris.