TUNIS, Tunisia — Heavy gunfire erupted in the heart of Tunisia’s capital Sunday as the army appeared to be closing in on stalwarts of the regime driven from power last week and the interim government prepared to name a new Cabinet free of any major figures linked to deposed President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali.
The outcome of the uprising, sparked by the self-immolation last month of a 26-year- old man frustrated and humiliated by his economic prospects, carries enormous weight in a politically ossified Arab world. Ben Ali’s popular overthrow has inspired hopes of other people who would like to topple entrenched Arab regimes stretching from North Africa to the Arabian Peninsula.
As virtually the only pillar of government left intact, the military now could play a pivotal role in determining whether a new autocrat or the first Arab democracy emerges from the tumult.
But determining who is in control or who is fighting whom here is also growing increasingly difficult. It was unclear how much responsibility Ben Ali’s loyalists bore for the chaos or whether they were scapegoats.
Many Tunisians, still seething at the flagrant corruption and brutal repression of Ben Ali’s rule, have been insisting without evidence for days that any riots and looting were the work of his police officers.
Former Interior Minister Rafik Belhaj Kassim was taken into custody in his hometown of Beja, about 60 miles west of Tunis, the capital, a day after the arrest of Ali Seriati, former chief of the presidential guard, state television reported. Both men led security apparatuses seen as tools of repression under the former regime.
Ben Ali led this North African country for 23 years before he was ousted in an uprising driven by disaffected youths clamoring for economic opportunities and political freedom.
Talks between former opponents of the regime and the interim government led by Fouad Mebazaa yielded an agreement that no major figure from the former ruling party would be included in the temporary Cabinet overseeing the state’s affairs until elections are held in 60 days, said Mahmoud ben Romdhane, a leader of Renewal, an opposition party.
“It’s finished,” he said of Ben Ali’s Constitutional Democratic Rally party, or RCD. “The RCD is completely destroyed.”
The Reuters news agency cited anonymous sources as saying only that the old regime’s foreign minister, Kamel Morjane, and interior minister, Ahmad Friaa, would retain their posts. Both men are respected as technocrats. Morjane is a career diplomat who served for years as deputy chief at the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Friaa was named to his post by Ben Ali last week in a scramble to placate Tunisians angry over heavy-handed police violence against protesters.
“God willing, maybe tomorrow, we will announce a government of national unity with which we can start a new page in our history,” said interim Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi, who also served under Ben Ali and will retain his post, in a live telephone interview broadcast on state television.
Dozens of people have died in weeks of anti-government demonstrations and the chaotic aftermath of Ben Ali’s ouster.
As dusk settled Sunday and a 6 p.m. curfew took hold, the center of this capital resembled a war zone, with helicopters circling overhead, automatic- weapon fire erupting and panicked police officers and soldiers hustling passers-by into doorways for protection. Police officers said pitched battles were taking place between security forces and alleged supporters of Ben Ali’s rule. The clashes continued into the early evening, with rumors of snipers positioned on rooftops fueling fears.
Large crowds of residents could be seen lining up at the few bakeries and grocery stores open. Many complained of running out of food and being unable to access funds from bank machines.
“People are saying we are in Fallujah,” said one scholar, comparing Tunisia to the Iraqi city that has seen heavy fighting in recent years.
In neighborhoods of the capital and surrounding suburbs, citizen militias staffed by young men wielding makeshift clubs or even swords had established checkpoints to protect their neighborhoods.
The New York Times contributed to this report.
