Ben Ali

The recent elections in Tunisia, billed as the first real test of democracy since the ouster of the autocratic Habib Bourguiba 17 months ago, were both a boon and an embarrassment for President Zine Abidine ben Ali, according to Tunisian political analysts and diplomats. The new 53-year-old leader was sworn in Sunday. Ben Ali, who has been nudging Tunisia toward greater democracy since forcing Bourguiba into retirement, won an overwhelming mandate to govern in his own right, capturing 99.7% of the 2.1 million votes cast in the April 2 presidential election.

As French officials continue to grapple with the fallout of their African foreign policy, they have been rocked by new disclosures about aid to security forces in Tunisia and Egypt, and calls for the foreign minister's resignation over her holiday in Tunisia during the uprising there. French Prime Minister Francois Fillon confirmed this week that the government had authorized a shipment of tear gas grenades to Tunis on Jan. 12, two days before Tunisian President Zine el Abidine ben Ali was toppled from power.

The top U.S. diplomat for the Arab world gave Washington's firm endorsement of the uprising that ousted Tunisia's longtime ruler, even as a crisis over the North African country's transitional government continued to simmer. Jeffrey Feltman, assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs, also said Washington had offered the fragile new government "whatever support is appropriate and requested" in conducting a nationwide election. The transitional government has promised to conduct balloting in six months.

It may not look like much compared to a set from "L.A. Law," but Noureddine Bhiri's new law office is nonetheless a remarkable sign of the dramatic change that has come over Tunisia in the 11 months since former President Habib Bourguiba was pried from power.

Nearly three months after having deposed Habib Bourguiba in a "constitutional coup," President Zine Abidine ben Ali is learning that it is harder to keep promises than it is to make them. Succeeding Bourguiba on Nov. 7 after having had the octogenarian founder of modern Tunisia medically certified as being too senile to continue in office, Ben Ali promised to democratize his predecessor's authoritarian and increasingly capricious regime.

Tunis spruced itself up for a gala event at the end of last month, the triumphant celebration of what Zine Abidine ben Ali has done since he deposed Habib Bourguiba last November. Tunisia has changed more in months than in the previous 30 years, and this is one of the most encouraging developments in the Arab world. But because no one has died and the jails are being emptied, the story has gone relatively unreported.

The political opposition gained a foothold in the National Assembly for the first time in this nation's post-colonial history, as President Zine Abidine ben Ali, running unopposed, won a huge mandate for his program of economic liberalization and clamping down on Islamic fundamentalism. Official turnout was more than 94% as 2.9 million voters went to the polls in the first election contested by opposition parties since Tunisia's independence from France in 1956, authorities announced Monday.

Heavy gunfire erupted in the heart of Tunisia's capital on 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. 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...

Tunisians who last week faced down a dictator on Monday began the risky and arduous process of turning a revolt fueled by youthful anger into what they hope will be the rarity in the Arab world: genuine democracy. The country's interim prime minister, Mohamed Ghannouchi, announced a national unity government that includes three opposition leaders and members of the regime of President Zine el Abidine ben Ali, who was deposed Friday in a popular uprising. Ghannouchi also announced several measures to help placate a protest movement that has seen dozens of deaths in the last month.

Tunisia is one of the Arab world's most progressive countries when it comes to education and the rights of women, but when it comes to political criticism and dissent, it's a different story. For years, the harsh treatment of opponents and the stifling of the press by the regime of President Zine el Abdine ben Ali have been an open secret.