TUNIS, (Reuters) – A surge of anger in the streets over police repression and poverty swept Tunisia’s veteran leader from power today, sending a chill through unpopular authoritarian governments across the Arab world.
President Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali stepped aside after more than two decades in power and looked to have flown out of the country. His exact whereabouts were unclear.
Ben Ali’s prime minister told Tunisians he would steer the state until early elections. The streets of the capital were calm amid heavy security, but analysts questioned whether the change of face at the top would satisfy the protesters.
After days of violence that spread from provincial towns to Tunis, leaving dozens dead as security forces struggled to contain angry young demonstrators, the government declared a state of emergency and imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
The violence and rapid turn of events sent shockwaves across the Arab world, where similar authoritarian rulers are deeply entrenched, but face mounting pressures from growing young populations, economic hardship and the appeal of militant Islam.
“The fall of Ben Ali marks the first ever collapse of an autocratic regime in the face of a popular uprising in the Arab world,” said U.S. political risk consultancy Stratfor.
“Leaders across the Arab world, and especially in North Africa, will now look to the Tunisian example with concerns about how the situation could be replicated in their own countries.”
Western powers have long turned a blind eye to rulers in the region who provide a bulwark against Islamist radicals.
The United States led international calls for calm and for the people of Tunisia to be given a free choice of leaders.
“I condemn and deplore the use of violence against citizens peacefully voicing their opinion in Tunisia, and I applaud the courage and dignity of the Tunisian people,” said U.S. President Barack Obama.
It remained unclear where Ben Ali was, with al Jazeera television reporting Ben Ali was flying to the Gulf and Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV saying he was heading to Qatar.
A police source in France, its former colonial power, said police had been told to await Ben Ali’s arrival at an airport near Paris but the Foreign Ministry did not confirm this.
Yet, French media reported that President Nicolas Sarkozy had refused to give Ben Ali permission to enter France.
French daily Le Monde reported a plane coming from Tunisia arrived at Le Bourget airport on Paris’ outskirts at 1830 GMT carrying a daughter and granddaughter of the Tunisian president.