Tunisian police violently break up anti-government demonstration

Riot police in Tunisia violently broke up an anti-government demonstration in central Tunis by about 200 people calling for the resignation of the transitional government and "a new revolution".

The demonstrators who yelled slogans such as "Get out!" and "The government still works for (ousted president Zine El Abidine) Ben Ali" faced off for 20 minutes against a police cordon on the central Habib Bourguiba Avenue.

Then suddenly, the police charged and threw large quantities of tear gas, causing panic among the demonstrators, mainly youths, and pedestrians who were in the neighborhood and tried to flee for shelter. Shops pulled their blinds down.

Some police were on motorbikes, some had dogs and even a light armoured car was on the avenue.

Tunisia's former minister of the interior Farhat Rajhi called for calm earlier on Friday after causing an outcry with his statement that a "military coup d’état" could take place in the country. "I have called for calm on Tunisian radios. My statements were just purely hypothetical and not directed at anybody and I am not responsible for interpretations," Rahji told AFP.