Tunisia's president flees the country

After four weeks of steadily escalating riots across Tunisia, President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali lost his grip on power Friday January 14th. The country's prime minister announced that he was taking over to organize early elections and usher in a new government.

U.S. officials confirmed that Ben Ali, 74, had fled the North African country, but his whereabouts were not publicly known. Wherever he was hiding, the day's events suggested that his 23 years as Tunisia's ruler were over, submerged by a wave of unrest set off by economic deprivation, official corruption and political frustration in the mostly Sunni Muslim country.
The spectacle of the iron-fisted leader being swept from office was certain to resonate elsewhere in the Arab world. Smaller protests have erupted in Egypt, Jordan and Algeria in recent weeks as the region's many autocratic governments, often in power without the underpinning of democratic elections, have come under increasing pressure from similarly frustrated youths.

Half a century, two leaders
Tunisia has been ruled by two men since its independence, and though they both helped to advance progressive policies, political freedom has been restricted. The country had relative stablility under President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, but recent government clashes with protesters drove him out of power.

Despite the pledge of a new political opening, Ben Ali's fall from power opened a possibly dangerous horizon for Tunisia, a sunny nation of 10.5 million people known mainly as a cheerful tourist destination for European vacationers and a haven of tolerance in a region often unsettled by Islamist extremism.
With no obvious successor to Ben Ali in the wings, it was unclear whether Ghannoushi, as a heretofore faithful follower of the president, could muster authority to control the mobs who have been setting the agenda in Tunis over the past several weeks. Streets were reported quiet Friday evening under heavy security.

Leila Trabelsi, Ben Ali's wife, and her family were reputed to have used the influence associated with the presidency to build private fortunes in real estate and other business deals. As protest violence - fueled by social media such as Facebook and Twitter - spread across the country beginning last month, rioters frequently directed their wrath at property associated with the Trabelsi family.

The simmering discontent erupted into the open Dec. 17 in the inland city of Sidi Bouzid after an unlicensed fruit vendor identified as Mohammed Bouazzi set himself afire. Bouazzi acted after a policeman confiscated the wares off his cart and, according to news reports, after he was slapped by a female city hall employee to whom he had turned to complain.

From there violence quickly spread to other cities. Police used tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition to put down the protests, with a steadily rising casualty count increasing the anger among unemployed youths and long-suppressed political opponents.
By Tuesday, the rioting had spread to Tunis, and protesters were demanding that Ben Ali step down. In actions that would have been unheard of only a few weeks ago, the president's photo was ripped from walls and police stations were ransacked.
In what was seen as a last gesture to save his rule, Ben Ali earlier Friday had declared a state of emergency, fired his entire government and promised to hold early legislative elections within six months. That promise followed by only hours a pledge to leave office by 2014 and to order police to stop firing on protesters, release those arrested in the riots and lift the country's suffocating censorship