TUNISIA - The Tunisian speaker of parliament, Fouad Mebazaa, has been sworn in Saturday as interim president less than a day after longtime leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled the country after weeks of violent protests. Mebazaa said he has asked the prime minister, Mohamed Ghannouchi, to form a "national unity government in the country's best interests". "All Tunisians without exception and exclusion must be associated in the political process," he said after taking the oath. An opposition leader who had talks with the prime minister today over a possible coalition said discussions would continue tomorrow. "We discussed the idea of a coalition government and the prime minister accepted our request to have a coalition government," said Mustafa Ben Jaafar, leader of the Union of Freedom and Labour party. Ben Ali yesterday declared a state of emergency after saying he would dismiss his government and call new elections within six months. Thousands of angry demonstrators marched through the capital, Tunis, demanding his resignation and he eventually flew out of the country, taking refuge in Saudi Arabia. The new leader comes after another chaotic day on the city's streets with groups of men, believed to be linked to Ben Ali, shooting at random cars. Dozens of inmates were reportedly killed when they broke out of Mahdia prison, south of Tunis. "They tried to escape and the police fired on them," said one man, Imed, who lives 200 metres away. "Now there are tens of people dead and everybody has escaped."
