Tunisian police fire shots to disperse new protests

The demonstrators, who gathered outside the Tunis headquarters of the RCD, Tunisia's ruling party for several decades, refused to move back when police fired shots from behind a metal fence. There were also protests in other towns across Tunisia.

The protesters on Mohamed V Avenue near the centre of Tunis, chanted: "After Ben Ali and his wife, we want to bring down his thieves!" They also burnt the logo of the party and carried banners saying: "Government out!"

The central committee of Ben Ali's RCD power base has been dissolved, state television reported, saying the decision was taken as many committee members, who were also government ministers, had quit the party under opposition pressure. The party itself will continue to operate, the report said.

The ministers in the interim government resigned from the RCD party in a bid to restore credibility after four opposition ministers quit the cabinet, saying ministers belonging to the RCD party must go.

In a new blow to the government, a junior minister stepped down today, the official news agency said.

"I am stepping down for the higher interests of the country in this delicate situation to try to bring the country out of crisis and ensure a democratic transition," Zouheir M'Dhaffar, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's office, was quoted as saying by the official TAP news agency.

Between 3,000 and 4,000 people gathered in the town of Gafsa, 350 km south of Tunis, to protest about the presence in the government of ministers who worked for Ben Ali, union activist Hedi Radaoui told Reuters.

State television said there was also an anti-government protest in the town of Kef, about 180 km south-west of Tunis. Thousands also protested in Sfax and Gafsa.

It was the first time that major anti-government protests have been reported outside the capital since Ben Ali fled the country last week, faced with violent unrest over poverty and unemployment which unsettled autocrats across the Arab world.

In further moves to seize the assets of the former ruling family, a bank owned by Ben Ali's son-in-law was placed under the control of the central bank, state TV said.

A day earlier, 33 of Ben Ali's clan were arrested for crimes against the nation. State television showed what it said was seized gold and jewellery.

Switzerland froze Ben Ali's family assets.