Tunisian President slammed the weekend unrest that left 14 people killed, as he blamed “gangs of thugs” and pledged new jobs.
Tunisian President slammed the weekend unrest that left 14 people killed, as he blamed “gangs of thugs” and pledged new jobs.
In a television address on Monday, Ben Ali blamed the violence on "hostile elements in the pay of foreigners, who have sold their soul to extremism and terrorism, and are manipulated from outside the country."
These groups, which he did not identify, incited violence and encouraged people to demonstrate by spreading false information and "slogans of despair", he said.
He also pledged that his government would create 300,000 new jobs to tackle the unemployment which is seen as the basic issue that sparked the unrest in the country for weeks.
Ben Ali called a national conference on unemployment for February and urged regional officials to improve "channels of contact with the people, to listen to their concerns."
The Tunisian President has previously accused the opposition of exploiting the situation, with the protests kicking off after a university student set himself alight in a work protest on December 17.
To try to stem the unrest, the government has closed all schools and universities from Tuesday until further notice.
But fresh clashes erupted Monday after weekend clashes in which security forces opened fire on protesters.
There were more clashes in the towns of Kasserine, Thala and Regueb, with police using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators while security forces were on alert in the capital.
Tunisia's unemployment rate is officially 14 percent, but the percentage of graduates without work is about double that.
The government has said 14 people were killed over the weekend, but that its forces had acted in self defense. The opposition says at least 20 have died.
For his part, the president of the International Federation for Human Rights said Tuesday that at least 35 people have been killed in the riots that erupted over the weekend.
"We have a list of the names of the 35," Souhayr Belhassen told AFP news agency.
"The total figure is higher. It's somewhere around 50, but that's an estimate."
The Paris-based FIDH is a global federation of 164 human rights groups and is following events in Tunisia closely through a network of local monitors.
INTERNATIONAL CONCERN
The European Union and France called for restraint and calm as the new protests broke out Monday. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for restraint, dialogue and full respect for free expression.
But Tunisia summoned the US ambassador Gordon Gray after Washington last week condemned the crackdown on rioters.
Saida Chtioui, secretary of state in the foreign ministry, expressed her "surprise" at the US State Department's criticism, Tunisia's state news agency TAP reported.
It had been based on "information gathered from hostile elements", she said.
"We wonder about the reaction of the American authorities to a so-called peaceful demonstration, during which Molotov cocktails were thrown and premises were vandalized and burned," she added.
The United States last week raised concerns with Tunisia about its handling of the unrest and called for "restraint".
It also expressed concern over apparent "interference" with the Internet by the Tunis government, accused of arresting dissident bloggers and hacking and blocking certain websites.
Chtioui denied any sites had been blocked and said the bloggers had been released.
