MAINZ, Germany - Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed concern on Friday after Tunisia's prime minister took over from President Zine al-Abedine Ben Ami after the worst unrest in his two decades of power. "The situation in Tunisia is extremely serious. It shows that stagnation has made the people very impatient," she said ahead of a meeting with other senior members of her ruling Christian Democrats in Mainz. "We will now bring our influence to bear in order to ensure that things take place there peacefully and that there are as few victims to mourn as possible," Merkel said. Separately, German foreign minister and vice-chancellor Guido Westerwelle said a crisis team had been put in place to help Germans on holiday in Tunisia. Tour operator Thomas Cook said the first 230 of its 2,000 German package trip vacationers would be flown back on Friday evening from Monastir and Djerba to Berlin and Duesseldorf, with the rest to return in the next days. TUI said it would also bring its 1,000 holidaymakers back to Germany as soon as possible, stopping all trips to Tunisia through Monday. Majority owned UK unit TUI Travel separately said it would fly back all of its approximately 1,500 tourists in Tunisia within the next 48 hours following a travel warning by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). "We have been monitoring the situation continuously, and reacted immediately to the deterioration in circumstances and the change in FCO advice," it said, adding that the company was also cancelling all flights due to depart to Tunisia on Sunday and Wednesday.
