TUNIS: Squads of men shot at random from cars in Tunis Saturday and inmates staged a mass jailbreak as leaders sought to map out Tunisia's political future after the president was swept from power. It was not clear who the assailants were but a senior military source told Reuters that people affiliated to former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali were behind the attacks. Soldiers and tanks were stationed in the center of Tunis to try to restore order after a night of looting after Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia following a month of violent anti-government protests that claimed dozens of lives. Saudi Arabia Saturday announced that the Kingdom “stands wholly by the Tunisian people and hoped that that they would “unite to overcome this difficult phase in its history”. The Royal Court issued a statement Saturday saying that the Kingdom had welcomed the arrival of former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his family to the country. The speaker of Tunisia's parliament, Fouad Mebazza, was sworn in as interim president, the official TAP news agency said. He has asked Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi to form a coalition government. Tunisia's highest legal authority on constitutional issues said a presidential election should be held within 60 days. The acting president on state television had asked the prime minister to form a coalition government. “I have called on Mohamed Ghannouchi to form a new government of national unity,” Mebazza, the speaker of parliament who was sworn in as interim president, said in televised comments. Tunisian analyst Taoufik Ayachi said of the drive-by shootings, about 10 km from the city center Saturday and in another suburb Friday night: “It is certain the presidential police are behind all this. They still hope to regain power.” Dozens of inmates were killed when they broke out of Mahdia prison and the prison at Monastir, also south of the capital, was on fire after a separate escape attempt, witnesses said. “They tried to escape and the police fired on them. Now there are tens of people dead and everybody has escaped,” said a local man, Imed, who lives 200 meters from Mahdia jail. At least 42 people died in the Monastir breakout, the official news agency said. In suburban Tunis, the big Geant shopping center was on fire, witnesses said. Protesters have threatened to continue their campaign against poverty and repression until the government is gone. Evacuation of Saudis King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has ordered evacuation of 130 Saudi families living in Tunisia from Sunday, said Saudi Ambassador to Tunisia Dr. Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Bin Mu'ammar. Meanwhile, European travel companies rushed to retrieve thousands of tourists on package tours to Tunisia. Tour companies in Britain and Germany started the airlift process, sending planes to Tunisia to bring back tourists anxious to return home.
