Police crack down on Ben Ali’s allies

Tunisian police have cracked down on prominent supporters of the deposed President Zine El Abidine Ben amid continued street protests in the capital Tunis.

Abdallah Kallel and Abdelaziz Ben Dhia, who were two of Ben Ali’s top advisors, were put under house arrest and head of privately-owned Hannibal TV Larbi Nasri and his son were detained on Sunday.

State news agency, TAP, reported that Nasri has been accused of using his channel to “cause the revolution of the young to fail, sow chaos, incite disobedience and broadcast information” to deceive the people and eventually “to restore the dictatorship of the former president.”

The measures come as unrest mounts across Tunisia with protesters pressuring the country’s Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi and his cabinet to leave office.

Thousands held demonstrations in Tunis and other cities on Sunday and demanded a clean sweep of the cronies and allies of the ousted president.

Ghannouchi vowed in a televised speech on Saturday to quit his post after the upcoming elections due in six months and put an end to his political career, but insisted he should be there to guard the country through transition to democracy.

Tunisia’s revolution, which led to the overthrow of Ben Ali, has greatly affected the North African nations and sparked similar protests across the region.

On Saturday, hundreds of Egyptians gathered outside the Tunisian Embassy in Cairo to show their solidarity with Tunisians and called for protests similar to those in Tunisia.