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Tunisia city on the edge

TUNIS - Tunisian politicians were holding talks yesterday to try to form a unity government to help maintain a fragile calm two days after President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted by violent protests.

Tanks were stationed around the capital Tunis and soldiers were guarding public buildings, but after a day of drive-by shootings and jailbreaks in which dozens of inmates were killed, residents said they were starting to feel more secure.

"Last night we surrounded our neighbourhood with roadblocks and had teams checking cars. Now we are in the process of lifting the roadblocks and getting life back to normal," said a man, Imed, in the city's Intilaka suburb.

Sunday is not a working day in Tunisia and the streets were quiet, but some people were moving about. For the first time in several days, a handful of commercial vehicles - vans and pick-up trucks - could be seen moving about with deliveries. The only occasional sounds of gunfire overnight were a marked change from the heavy shooting the previous night.

The speaker of parliament, Fouad Mebazza, sworn in as interim president, has asked Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi to form a government of national unity and constitutional authorities said a presidential election should be held within 60 days.

Ghannouchi is due to hold more coalition talks yesterday to try to fill the vacuum left when Ben Ali, president for more than 23 years, fled to Saudi Arabia after a month of violent anti-government protests that claimed dozens of lives. Analysts say there may be more protests if the opposition is not sufficiently represented, and the talks may run into trouble when they down to the detail of which parties get which cabinet post and how many of the old guard are included.

Ahmed Ibrahim, head of the opposition Ettajdid party, said he and other party leaders would meet Ghannouchi for more talks on forming a coalition government.

"The main thing for us right now is to stop all this disorder. We are in agreement on several principles concerning the new government. My message is to say no to Gaddafi: we do not want to go backwards," he said, in reference to a speech on Saturday by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who said Tunisians were too hasty to get rid of Ben Ali. Opposition parties are seeking assurances that presidential elections will be free, that the country will move towards greater democracy and that the power of the ruling RCD party will be loosened.

Two opposition parties have also already said the two-month deadline for holding elections is too soon.

The ousting of Tunisia's president after widespread protests could embolden Arab opposition movements and citizens to challenge entrenched governments across the Middle East.

As well as soldiers patrolling the streets of Tunis, residents have been manning their own barricades to protect their property from looters and other attackers.

"We are coordinating well with the military and we are beginning to feel some security," said Samir, a 26-year-old in the centre of Tunis.

Gunmen fired at random from cars in Tunis on Saturday. It was not clear who the assailants were but a military source said people still loyal to Ben Ali were behind the shootings.

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