Makes concessions as unrest spreads TUNIS: Tunisian President Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali, trying to defuse the worst unrest of his rule, said Thursday he would not run again when his term expires in 2014. Ben Ali, who has been president since 1987, also ordered his security forces to stop using firearms against protesters and said prices for sugar, milk and bread would be reduced. He addressed the nation as the violence in the North African country brought more bloodshed and spread to the capital's center. Two young men were shot dead in clashes with police in Sliman, about 40 km south of Tunis, witnesses told Reuters. At least five people suffered gunshot wounds in clashes with police in the center of Tunis. The protesters say they are angry about unemployment, corruption and what they say is government repression. Officials say the protests have been hijacked by a minority of violent extremists who want to undermine Tunisia. In an emotional speech Thursday evening – delivered in local dialect instead of classical Arabic – Ben Ali announced measures to try to calm the protests. “I understand the Tunisians, I understand their demands. I am sad about what is happening now after 50 years of service to the country, military service, all the different posts, 23 years of the presidency,” he said. He said he did not intend to be president for life and would not change the constitution, which states that no one over 75 years of age can run for the presidency. Ben Ali is 74 and it had been widely expected he would have the document amended to allow him to run for a new term. Ben Ali also promised price reductions for some basic foodstuffs and to allow a free press. Thursday had started with all shops in Tunis city center closed and their shutters down. Armed soldiers, brought in to reinforce the police, stood guard outside government buildings behind banks of razor wire. In the Lafayette district, the main shopping area, gunshots rang out and I saw two civilians fall to the ground injured while three others ran away with bloody leg wounds. “There was a protest and police used tear gas and gunfire to disperse the crowds,” said a witness in a nearby street. The latest official count for the number of civilians killed in the unrest is 23. But witnesses told Reuters Wednesday another five had been killed, while the United Nations said rights groups put the toll at almost 40. The government says police have only fired in self-defense when rioters attacked with petrol bombs and sticks.
