Just a few hours before the announcement of a new national unity government was expected, new protests broke out on the streets of Tunisia’s capital, Tunis.

Water cannon, tear gas and occasional gunshots were used by the control forces to disperse several hundreds of demonstrators protesting for the resignation of Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, considered an ally of ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

The BBC reported that Ghannouchi, has assumed power and promised to “respect the constitution and implement the political, economic and social reforms that have been announced.”

In an attempt to re-establish political stability, Mr Ghannouchi, formed a new government, which includes opposition members but keeps several key members of the old regime in important positions.

Online news media reported the Tunisian prime minister saying that his government was committed to releasing all political prisoners, and that anyone with great wealth or suspected of corruption would face investigation.

Nevertheless, protesters continued their demonstrations calling Ben Ali and Ghannouchi’s party, the Constitutional Democratic Rally, to renounce to all power.

The ousting of President Ben Ali on Friday has led to a virtual paradigm shift in the country he had ruled autocratically for the last 23 years, after sweeping to power himself through a military coup.

The President fled to Saudi Arabia on Friday after a month of mounting protests across the country over unemployment, food price rises and corruption.

Chartered flight from Tunisia

A chartered flight from Tunisia, which has been in a state of emergency since last Friday, with many foreign entrepreneurs as well as tourists on board, landed in Malta early yesterday afternoon.

The Malta Independent, spoke to some of those who had just landed at the Malta International Airport.

Two Canadian men who were in Tunisia on business said they were terrorised by the unrest and cannot wait to return home.

A young mother of Asian descent with two children in tow said her family was on holiday in Tunisia. They caught the first flight out of the country, which brought them to Malta. She too couldn’t wait to get home.

Others, representing some prestigious companies around the world, preferred not to comment in fear of repercussions. A Maltese representative who spoke on their behalf, explained that many high-profile individuals, some hailing from other North African countries, were on board the flight. While he understood the newsworthiness of the moment, he explained that these people wish to maintain a low profile especially in the light of the recent developments in Tunisia.

A Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson explained that the chartered flight was organised by an independent operator. Many operators have organised chartered flights out of Tunisia. It is not excluded that more flights to Malta will be operated in the coming days.

In the meantime the spokesperson said that most of the 120 Maltese people that were in Tunisia made contact with the embassy. Tabs are being kept on their whereabouts should the precarious situation in the country degenerate further.

The Maltese embassy in the Tunisian capital of Tunis, the site of the main riots that have swept across the country, also remains open for business. Since the embassy is not in a central area of the capital city, it has remained relatively unaffected by the turmoil and riots that have gripped the country in recent weeks. Maltese embassy staff members are also remaining in the country.

The Maltese government is however keeping a close eye on the situation in its neighbouring North African state with a view to ensuring the safety of any Maltese in the country.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry issued a travel advice informing relatives of Maltese nationals currently holidaying in Tunisia to contact the ministry on 2204-2376 and 2204-2352 to give their particulars and whereabouts.

Algeria next?

Meanwhile, the Foreign Affairs Ministry advised against non-essential travel to certain areas in Algeria. Although Algiers itself is generally safe to travel in, travelling to certain administrative districts is not recommended, the ministry said.

Some media reports claimed that the revolution in Tunisia inspired other protests along the North African coast yesterday, with suicide protests reported in Algeria , Egypt and Libya.

Like Tunisia, Algeria has high unemployment and has been facing political turbulence.

A man reportedly burned himself to death during riots in Algeria, similar to what has already taken place during the Tunisian protests. Another two people were killed and scores injured during unrest, which unfolded in parallel to the violence in Tunisia.

On Sunday afternoon, Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, who has been in power for 41 years, expressed his ‘pain’ that former president Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia on Friday, had not been allowed to step down in his own time, as he had belatedly offered. This reflects worry among other autocratic leaders in North Africa, of a ripple effect that could embolden further protests across the region.

Tunisians hated First Lady more than President

The end of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s iron-fisted, 23-year rule brought joy to many ordinary people in this North African nation – and they were especially elated at the prospect of life without his wife and her rapacious family.

The clan of former First Lady Leila Trabelsi, a one-time hairdresser who rose to become Tunisia’s most influential woman, was widely despised as the ultimate symbol of corruption and excess. Leila and her 10 siblings are said to have operated like a mafia, extorting money from shop owners, demanding a stake in businesses large and small and dividing plum concessions among themselves.

Their control over the North African country’s economy was vast. The Trabelsi and Ben Ali’s own families were said to have a stake in Tunisian banks and airlines, car dealerships, Internet providers, radio and television stations, industry and big retailers.

And when mass protests forced Ben Ali to flee on Friday to Saudi Arabia, his peoples’ pent-up rage was directed more at Leila’s side of the family than at her husband and his authoritarian regime.

Retribution was swift. Within a day of Ben Ali’s departure, many of the sumptuous villas and businesses belonging to the Trabelsis were pillaged and burned, and one prominent family member was reportedly killed by an angry mob. A Tunis Air pilot who refused to take off with five fleeing family members on board has become a national hero.

A branch of the Zeitouna bank in Tunis founded by Ben Ali’s son-in-law was torched, as were vehicles made by the car brands he distributed, including Kia, Fiat and Porsche.

“The president did lots of good, but the family did lots of harm to Tunisia,” Mohamed Gaddahi said.

US diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks appear to shore up that conclusion. A June 2008 cable from the US Embassy in Tunis describes a report by anti-corruption group Transparency International, saying “Whether it’s cash, services, land, property... President Ben Ali’s family is rumoured to covet it and reportedly gets what it wants.”

The economic fallout of the Trabelsi’s web of corruption and influence-mongering was palpable, the cable said, with “Tunisian investors – fearing the long-arm of ‘the Family’ – forgoing new investments, keeping domestic investment rates low and unemployment high.”

A lack of jobs in this highly educated nation fuelled the month of popular protests that toppled Ben Ali. The uprising began in December after a despairing university graduate who sold fruits and vegetables without a permit set himself on fire and died because police confiscated his goods.

The co-author of a book on Leila Trabelsi, La Regente de Carthage, says the Trabelsis played an “absolutely capital” role in the fall of the regime.

“Tunisians were absolutely aware of what they were up to and they got to a point where they were sick and tired of their behaviour,” said author Catherine Graciet.

Leila Trabelsi was born in 1957 – the fifth of 11 children of a dried fruits vendor and a housewife, according to Graciet’s book.

After working as a hairdresser and having a short-lived first marriage, Trabelsi married Ben Ali in 1992, five years after the bloodless palace coup in which he replaced ageing independence hero Habib Bourguiba as president.

The marriage – which was also Ben Ali’s second – catapulted the once-modest Trabelsi clan to national prominence.

Her oldest brother, Belhassen, known as the clan chieftain, is said to have ruled over the family’s many Mafia-style rackets.

Her nephew, Imed Trabelsi, was reputed to be the spoiled brat of the family and the former First Lady’s favourite, according to the book. Known as a playboy, he enjoyed a jet-set lifestyle, complete with a garage full of sports cars and several yachts.

French prosecutors suspected him and another of Leila’s nephews of having ordered the 2006 theft of a yacht belonging to a French investment banker that turned up in the Tunisian port of Sidi Bou Said. Still, a French judge ruled that the two Trabelsis could be tried at home, despite the fact that Tunisia was ruled by their uncle. It was not clear if any trial was ever held in Tunisia.

Tunisian media reports said Imed Trabelsi was recognised at the Tunis airport as he attempted to flee the country hours after the regime crumbled – and was attacked by an angry mob. He reportedly died from his wounds at a Tunis military hospital over the weekend.

It was not immediately possible to verify those reports.

Egyptian, Mauritanian men set themselves alight

Two men set themselves on fire in Egypt and Mauritania yesterday, raising to three the number of self-immolation attempts apparently influenced by a similar action in Tunisia that helped trigger a popular uprising.

The desperate acts raised concerns that the practice could become a trend among activists seeking to force change in a region that has little or no tolerance for dissent.

The Egyptian man was engulfed by flames after he ignited himself outside the parliament building in central Cairo. Policemen guarding the building and motorists driving by at the time used fire extinguishers to quickly put out the blaze, according to security officials.

Health Ministry spokesman Abdel-Rahman Shahine said the man was taken to the hospital with light burns, mostly to his face, neck and legs. Officials identified him as Abdou Abdel-Monaam Hamadah, a 48-year-old owner of a small restaurant from Qantara, an area close to the Suez Canal city of Ismailia east of Cairo.

Officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media, said Hamadah was protesting a government policy preventing restaurant owners from buying cheap subsidised bread to resell to their patrons.

A subsidised loaf of typical Egyptian flat bread sells for about 1 US cent apiece, but sells for five times that much to restaurant owners.

Hamadah asked policemen guarding the parliament building to meet speaker Fathi Sorour, officials said. When they refused, Hamadah stepped back, took out a bottle filled with petrol from his pocket, doused himself with the liquid and set himself alight.

A Mauritanian man reportedly unhappy with the government also was hospitalised after setting himself on fire yesterday.

Witnesses say 43-year-old Yacoub Ould Dahoud drove to a government building in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, and torched himself in his car. Foreign ministry official Adbou Ould Sidi says police rushed him to the hospital.

The attempt follows similar incidents, including one in Algeria.

Yesterday’s incidents appeared to be attempts to copy the fatal self-immolation last month of Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old with a university degree, who set himself on fire after police confiscated the fruits and vegetables he was selling without a permit. He later died in a hospital near Tunis, and his desperate act touched a nerve with educated, unemployed youths nationwide in Tunisia, and sparked the mass protests that toppled President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.