Ben Ali in Tunisia regrets disorders and accuses foreign media

Photo published by the Tunisian presidency of Ben Ali's visit to Mohamed Bouazizi, who set himself on fire in protest against the confiscation of his goods by the police. AP / Hassene Dridi In a televised address to the people of Tunisia, Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali expressed regret Tuesday, December 28 events of Sidi Bouzid (West Central), beset by social unrest.

"The starting point of these events is a case in which we understand social circumstances and psychological factors and the consequences are regrettable," he said on national television TV7. The region of Sidi Bouzid is plagued by social unrest in the wake of the attempted suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi, a vendor of fruits and vegetables that had their goods confiscated by the municipal police, who can not necessary permissions.

The young man had poured gasoline to set fire to himself. This incident prompted a wave of protests in the region, agricultural and where unemployment is high. Violent clashes took place between demonstrators and officers of the police, leaving one dead, two injured and property damage, according to the Ministry of Interior.

The head of state visited on Tuesday afternoon at the bedside of Bouazizi, bed Medical Center Burn Ben Arous, near Tunis, and received the Presidential Palace the mother of this young man as well as other families in the region of Sidi Bouzid. In his speech, Mr. Ben Ali denounced the "excessive breadth have been taken by these events because of their political exploitation by certain parties who do not want the good of their country and employ some foreign television channels that broadcast false allegations without verification and are based on the dramatization (...) and defamation hostile media to Tunisia.

PROTEST THE UNION OF JOURNALISTS Ben Ali has warned "a minority of extremists and agitators in the pay of others and against the interests of their country [that] resort to violence and unrest in the streets as a means expression. " "This is a negative aspect and anticivique giving a distorted picture of our country and impedes the influx of investors and tourists, which affects job creation, while we need to reduce unemployment" , he said, asserting that "the law is strictly enforced against those." Previously, the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) denounced the "media blockade" that accompanied the early events of Sidi Bouzid.

"The executive SNJT expresses its deep outrage at the media blockade that accompanied the early events of Sidi Bouzid, which paved the way for interpretations and rumors in the absence of precise information," Has he said in a statement sent to AFP. SNJT condemned the "impediments" and "barriers" that confronted the journalists, some of which have been attacked while exercising their profession.

But the union also condemned the use of some foreign media, especially Al-Jazeera, to "amplification and distortion of facts in their coverage of social events legitimate and peaceful". The union has called on all journalists and media outlets "to comply with the principles of professional ethics."

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