tunisia

More than 200 slain in rebellion, says UN

Tunis (AP):

At least 219 people were killed and 510 injured in the unrest that led to the fall of Tunisia's dictatorial regime, a United Nations (UN) mission said Tuesday, as sporadic violence continued to flare around the country.

A gang set fire overnight to a small synagogue, a Jewish leader said, in what appeared to be the first attack on a Jewish institution since the start of the unrest that forced the Muslim North African nation's autocratic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to flee to Saudi Arabia.

Bakr N'diaye, the head of the mission sent by the UN high commissioner for human rights to investigate the unrest, said his team counted 147 deaths beside the 72 deaths in prison fires and violence linked to the unrest.

The country's caretaker government has said about 78 people lost their lives in the unrest fuelled by widespread corruption and repression, but that figure has been contested by the opposition.

Spread to egypt

Tunisia's rebellion has spread to Egypt, where protesters are calling for the departure of President Hosni Mubarak, as well as to Jordan and Yemen.

Meanwhile, in Tunisia the interim government has been trying to stabilise the country and reassure demonstrators that democratic change is possible - in large part, by removing Ben Ali's old guard from many posts of power.

On Tuesday, 27 high-ranking police and interior ministry officials were ordered to retire. Critics had accused them of repression under Ben Ali.