NOBEL-PRIZE/PEACE TUNISIA File pictures chronicling Tunisia's political crisis in 2011

Record ID: 136191

  • Title: NOBEL-PRIZE/PEACE TUNISIA File pictures chronicling Tunisia's political crisis in 2011
  • Date: 9th October 2015
  • Summary: TUNIS, TUNISIA (FILE - JANUARY 14, 2011) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS CLASHING WITH POLICE, CLOUDS OF TEAR GAS PROTESTERS CARRYING AWAY INJURED
  • Embargoed: 24th October 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Tunisia
  • Country: Tunisia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAACCNZRXIF4A74W9K7TFEPZ59
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    The "Arab Spring" began with the slap and an insult hurled at a young vegetable-seller in a small Tunisian town, and ended with a revolution that paved the way for free and fair elections in the small north African nation - inspiring the citizens of other countries in the region to stand up to their oppressive leaders.
    Residents of Sidi Bouzid say anger had been building for years before Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in December 2010, igniting weeks of demonstrations that spread across the country and unseated President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali after 23 years of repressive rule.
    In a bid to quell the unrest, the 74-year-old president announced in a television address that he would not seek a sixth term. Ben Ali made sweeping concessions, saying security forces would no longer use live ammunition against protesters and promising freedom of the press and an end to Internet censorship.
    But the protests continued and after days of clashes in which dozens were killed, Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14, 2011.
    Despite a series of government resignations, protests persisted, fuelled by a combination of frustration over the slow pace of change since Ben Ali's departure, and by the involvement of suspected Ben Ali loyalists seeking to destabilise the transition.
    The return from exile of Islamist leader Rachid Ghannouchi, head of the Ennahda movement, banned under Ben Ali, marked a powerful symbol of the change that was sweeping Tunisia, and thousands of Tunisians turned out on January 30 to welcome him home.
    Tunisia's National Dialogue Quartet won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday (October 9) for its contribution to building democracy after the Jasmine Revolution in 2011, the Nobel Committee said.
    The quartet is made up of the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA), the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH), and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers.
    Formed in the summer of 2013, it helped support the democratisation process in Tunisia when it was in danger of collapsing, said the committee.
    The Nobel Peace Prize, worth 8 million Swedish crowns ($972,000), will be presented in Oslo on December 10.
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