[chris]

Very Chilling and Graphic Immediate Chaos after Recent Killings in Northern Africa, The Ben Ali Regime.

There have been anti-government protests in Tunisia in recent weeks, leading to police using lethal force to put down the unrest.

Demonstrations are rare in the North African nation, which is a popular tourist destination - and where there have been tight controls aimed at preventing dissent.

What sparked the unrest?

A desperate act by a young unemployed graduate on 17 December triggered a much wider series of protests and clashes with the police.

Mohamed Bouazizi set fire to himself when local officials in his town - 200km (about 125 miles) south-east of the capital Tunis - prevented him from selling vegetables on the streets of Sidi Bouzid without permission.

This set off protests about jobs in the town, which has an agriculture-based economy in one of the poorest regions of the country.

These unemployment demonstrations then spread elsewhere, in a move the government said was being exploited by the opposition.

But the violent response of the authorities - with the police opening fire on demonstrators - appears to have exacerbated anger and ignited further protests.

The unrest is also widely seen as drawing on deep frustration with the ruling elite and the suppression of political freedoms.

The clashes became much more deadly on the weekend of 8-9 December, when at least 14 people were killed. Opposition activists said the toll was higher.

Were the protests expected?

No, the unrest appears to have taken almost everyone by surprise, including the government.

President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who has ruled Tunisia for 23 years, likes to portray the country as a model of economic development and stability.

But correspondents say for many Tunisians, nothing could be further from the truth.

"The government presents Tunisia as a real democracy while everybody knows that in fact it's a fake democracy, and this is a corrupted state, a police state," exiled Tunisian opposition politician Moncef Marzouki told.

"The government presents Tunisia as an economic success story, while everyone knows that we have a lot of problems, unemployment and poverty… this is why people are taking to the streets."

Unflattering Wikileaks revelations last month about corruption within the ruling elite may have exacerbated the situation, analysts say.

What has the government said?

It has denied that the police over-reacted, saying they were protecting public property against a small number of "terrorists".

They have also closed all universities and schools until further notice in a bid to keep young people at home, off the streets.

President Ben Ali also promised to tackle the root cause of the problem by creating an extra 300,00 jobs.

However, he did not give any further details.

What happens next?

President Ben Ali's Western allies have generally kept quiet about his unfavourable human rights record.

But the sudden eruption of unrest has forced both Washington and the European Union to speak out and demand that the police stop shooting peaceful protesters.

The unrest has now dragged on for weeks, prompting many analysts to wonder whether this could be the beginning of something far more serious.

They warn that we could be witnessing the breakdown of the tacit compact that has existed in Tunis for decades.

In return for stability and a slow but steady rise in prosperity, the majority of Tunisians have accepted restricted political rights, a police state and corrupt elite.

For foreign investors, Tunis has been a safe place to invest and a source of cheap labour.

But this model may be failing or be unsustainable over the long term - high unemployment among graduates, frustration with lack of freedoms and the excesses of the elite may be the deeper causes of the anger that will be hard to quell.

Arab analyst Magdi Abdelhadi says Tunisians seem to have broken the barrier of fear.

If the protests continue, the Tunisian president could be facing the most serious challenge to his authority since he took power.

And the eruption of popular discontent in Tunisia and neighbouring Algeria could make authoritarian leaders across North Africa and the wider Arab region nervous.

[nsco]

lmao at the guys taking photos of the dude. but then again, i think i also would do that in that situation.

good post, rock on

[joethurr]

great post! Pretty recent stuff, It occurred like 4 days ago in Tunisia..

[loveless]

What was up with those people just calmly taking pics with their cells......

[Maoh1349]

The guy with his brain coming out has the same exact look on his face as the kids in the anti-drug "you forgot your brain" commercials lol

Man what the hell is with all the civilians in that ER

[Steve]

Tell you what....if I was a medic there and saw that cunt with his cell phone he would need surgery to extract it from his fucking ass.

[Jere]

[Faline]

[negative79]

why isn't there a country where blacks are the majority and where they live and act civilized. you give slaves their own country (Liberia) and they turn it into a hellish shithole.

[felixhelix420]

Dayum!