Tunisia to break with old regime

TUNISIA: Tunisia’s interim President has promised a “total break” with the past and hailed “a revolution of dignity and liberty,” as prosecutors opened a vast inquiry against the previous leader.

Investigators will look into the extensive domestic and foreign assets held by former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who resigned abruptly on Friday and fled to Saudi Arabia after a wave of social protests against his regime.

“Together we can write a new page in the history of our country,” Foued Mebazaa said in an address to the nation on Wednesday in which he also vowed to ensure an amnesty for political prisoners, media freedoms and an independent judiciary. The new Government was to hold its first cabinet meeting on Thursday amid protests against the inclusion of old regime figures and for the abolition of Ben Ali’s once all-powerful Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) party. The United States urged Tunisia’s interim government to move to a true democracy, and vowed to help. “The people of Tunisia have spoken. The interim government must create a genuine transition to democracy.

Tunis, Thursday, AFP