Tunisia: Ben Ali's security chief is arrested

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

Deposed Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali 's head of security has been arrested.

State media said Ali Seriati, who led Mr Ben Ali's presidential security force, is accused of threatening state security by fomenting violence.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12202283

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The head of the special police force which protected Zein Al Abdiine Ben Ali, the ousted Tunisian president is to appear in court charged with fomenting violence and threatening national security, Tunisian state television has reported.

Ali Seriati was arrested on Friday reportedly near the border with Libya. The charges against him are related to a continuing spate of random shootings by armed men driving unmarked cars who have terrorised the capital and other cities around the country.


A police source who did not want to be named told the Financial Times on Sunday that the shootings and other acts of sabotage since Mr Ben Ali left the country on Friday were the work of members of his special guard trying to sow chaos.


http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f88ce6f2-209e-11e0-a877-00144feab49a.html#axzz1BDTp2y65

[Catherina]

1. Thank you! More arrests. Rats can run but they can't hide

Reports that Egypt has "detained" Tunisian Members of Parliament who fled to Egypt & tried to seek refuge in the Tunisian embassy in Cairo 25 minutes ago via web

Security in Tunisia arrests former interior minister in his home http://nyti.ms/g5eR63 42 minutes ago via web

Hours before fleeing Tunis, Sakher El Materi, the former dictator's son in law posts a video saying "I won't leave" http://bit.ly/eD41L9 about 9 hours ago via web

Screen grabs of Al Jazeera showing arrested thugs & one of Ben Ali's burned down houses http://yfrog.com/gyy6zekj http://yfrog.com/h7exqdj about 11 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone

BBC Arabic says that the Tunisian army, unlike his security apparatus refused orders by former dictator Ben Ali to clamp down on protestors. about 11 hours ago via web

Al Jazeera: family of Ben Ali who are now in France are not welcome to stay. Also reports security has improved due to neighborhood watch about 11 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone

Al Jazeera: former head of prisons has been arrested. The 50 security guards of Ben Ali tried to flee to Libya in cars with no number plates about 11 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone

Al Jazeera: the head of prisons was ordered by former regime elements to open the doors to all jails to allow prisoners to leave about 11 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone

The Saudi King has ordered Airbus 320 planes sent to Tunisia to transport 130 Saudi families home to Jeddah & Riyadh http://bit.ly/h55nRF about 12 hours ago via web


http://twitter.com/sultanalqassemi

All this does my heart so much good. They're going to hunt these people down and make sure they don't "hijack the revolution". Go Tunisians! Between this and Rudolf Elmer about to hand over offshore banking secrets to WikiLeakshis, this is the most optimistic I've felt in a good many years.

thecoffinman RT @LiberateTunisia: BEWARE: BEN ALI IS GONE. HIS PARTY IS STILL IN POWER. DO NOT LET THEM HIJACK THE TUNISIAN REVOLT. KEEP IT UP #SidiBouzid #Tunisia #Tunisie

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23sidibouzid

[sabrina 1]

2. Good, I hope this is the first toppling of oppressive regimes

in the Arab world, and a lesson to the west to stop supporting them.

It's a shame that the U.S. media has basically ignored this historical uprising, the first in the Arab world that may result in a Democracy.


Since we claim to be so fond of Democracy, this is an opportunity to support the people of Tunisia in establishing the first democracy in an Arab country and to persuade our other dictator allies to take a lesson from this and start reforming their own ways or risk being toppled by their people also.

First South America throws off its western backed Dictatorships, maybe this is the beginning of the same thing happening in the Arab world.

[aquart]

3. LOL!

First: the last thing they need is our support. It would taint any new government as an American puppet.

Second: the stunning arrogance of your assumption that our word can change the governments of the Middle East boggles my mind. You want them to throw off the dictators we are known to support but that the way to do that is for us to support the new guys? Because, really, you want them all happy and free and exactly like us because our way is the true way but not for our world to change one little bit. We're still supposed to be the guys in charge.

Well, you're going to see all the bloody revolt you could ever hope for. Because climate change destabilizes nations as well as their governments. And none of it will be under our control. Or likely anyone else's either.

Democracy's young dream. Yeah, that's the ticket.

[sabrina 1]

4. Did you read my post or just have a knee-jerk reaction which is

prevalent on forums like these.

The last thing I would want is to have the U.S. interfere in any country trying to establish a democracy. My post was pointing out how obvious it is that we are not interested in democracy at all, which is why the U.S. media has been all but silent on this historical event.

My question was 'since we are supposed to be so supportive of democracy, where are we'? I guess I should have added an explanation.