Tunisia, birthplace of Arab Spring, rocked by new protests [Video]

Tunisia is known as the birthplace of the Arab Spring, the country where a distraught fruit seller who set himself on fire launched a wave of uprisings that is reshaping the Middle East.

Now, new protests are sweeping the North African nation along with renewed complaints of repression, another sign of the unrest that still grips the region.

Late last month Tunisian authorities barred all protests from a central avenue in Tunis after weeks of demonstrations for and against Islamic law. After the fall of longtime leader Zine el Abidine ben Ali and his secular regime, Tunisia is now led by moderate Islamists.

Protesters have repeatedly defied the ban, marching onto the avenue and being pushed back with tear gas and batons. The latest group of protesters, which included many secular critics of the new government, was marking a holiday commemorating those killed under French colonialism.

Many protesters argue that the new ruling party has failed to improve on the previous rulers. “It was us who defended them when they were repressed under Ben Ali and today, now that they are in power, they repress us with the same practices of the old regime,” Moufda Belghith of the Tunisian Assn. of Democratic Women complained to the Associated Press.

Asylum claims hit record high from Syria, Tunisia, Ivory Coast

More people clamored for asylum from countries in Arab Spring tumult, part of the global trends that pushed a 20% jump in applications to industrialized nations last year. The increase was observed by the United Nations refugee agency, which released a new report Tuesday on the 2011 trends.

The report analyzes the asylum claims received by 44 industrialized countries across Europe, North America, Australasia and northeast Asia. Those claims do not reflect the entire scope of people fleeing conflict and deprivation, as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees noted Tuesday.

"The number of asylum claims received across all industrialized countries is still smaller than the population of Dadaab, a single refugee camp in northeast Kenya," commissioner Antonio Guterres said.

Afghanistan had the most people seeking asylum, followed by China, Iraq, Serbia and Pakistan. In Afghanistan, asylum claims jumped by more than a third as uncertainty and violence continued to plague the Central Asian country, rebounding to their highest point since 2001.

Egyptians' sense of safety has plummeted, poll finds

Egyptians feel much less safe than they did before the "Arab Spring" uprising, a new Gallup poll has found. Pollsters found the percentage of Egyptians who said they feel safe walking alone at night in their neighborhood dropped to 47% from 82% since the revolution.

The numbers echo what Jeffrey Fleishman and Amro Hassan wrote in a recent article for The Times:

Soldiers guard streets but few people feel safe. Police have largely returned to duty after months of work slowdowns, but their presence is sporadic; they appear and disappear at whim. Many Egyptians wonder whether security forces are complacent about or complicit in the mayhem around them, a sense of unease felt by fruit vendors and bankers alike.

"This is an Egypt I do not know," said Tarek Fouad, a sales manager at an international corporation. He said he saw this bewilderment in the faces at the funeral for a relative, who was shot in a January carjacking on the affluent outskirts of Cairo.

Gallup cautioned that the uneasiness doesn't necessarily mean there is more crime. An earlier poll found that Egyptians' sense of safety differed depending on what television stations they watched. The Times reported there are few reliable statistics on how much crime has actually risen in Egypt.

Tunisians and Bahrainis also felt less safe, Gallup found. Like Egyptians, Tunisians pushed out a president. Bahrain has been roiled by protests against its monarch, but he remains in power. Gallup interviewed at least 1,000 people in each country before and after the uprisings:

"Regardless of whether residents' perceptions of safety are accurate or based on real-life experiences, there are serious potential ramifications for each of these countries," Gallup Center for Muslim Studies senior analyst H.A. Hellyer wrote. Tourism could be pinched by concern about safety, Hellyer said. People may be less supportive of reforms if they believe their safety is at risk. And international trade and investment may drop off.

Yemen, unlike Egypt, Tunisia and Bahrain, saw only a small drop in perceived safety. Hellyer speculated that feelings about safety didn't change much because people in Yemen felt less safe to begin with.

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Mubarak to hear verdict in Egypt's 'trial of the century' in June

-- Emily Alpert in Los Angeles

Photo: An Egyptian woman and her child pose in Cairo for a photo by a combo mural depicting military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi on the left half and ousted President Mubarak on the right. Credit: Nasser Nasser / Associated Press

What happens after people set themselves on fire?

It is a horrific and arresting tactic for protesters trying to get attention to a cause: Setting themselves on fire.

Buddhist monks have set themselves alight in Tibet to protest for religious freedom. Jobless Moroccans reportedly ignited during protests over lack of opportunity in the North African nation.

The Arab Spring protests began after a Tunisian street vendor set himself on fire after sparring with local authorities. And in Moscow, a woman set herself on fire in front of Russian government headquarters this week, her reasons unknown.

We often see the headlines about people around the world setting themselves on fire. But what happens afterward? Nicole Bernal, acting director of the UC Irvine Regional Burn Center, walked us through it.

Former dissident sworn in as Tunisia's president

REPORTING FROM BEIRUT -- Promising an end to decades of autocracy, a veteran human rights activist on Tuesday was sworn in as president of Tunisia, the country that inspired the "Arab Spring" uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East.

Moncef Marzouki, who was imprisoned and exiled for years for opposing former President Zine el Abidine ben Ali, said during a ceremony in Tunis, the capital, he would be a leader “for all Tunisians.”

“Other nations are watching us as a laboratory of democracy,” he said.

Marzouki, 66, who heads the secular center-left Congress for the Republic party, was elected Monday by a ruling coalition dominated by the moderate Islamist Nahda party, which won the largest share of seats in an assembly charged with appointing a transitional government and drafting a new constitution.

More than 40 opposition members cast blank ballots to protest a vote they described as democratic window-dressing, saying real authority in the new government will be wielded by Islamists.

French newspaper damaged by fire still delivers issue on Islamic law

REPORTING FROM PARIS -- The headquarters of a satirical French newspaper was damaged by fire early Wednesday as a controversial special edition poking fun at Islamic law in Libya and Tunisia was set to hit newsstands, officials said.

A fire apparently sparked by one or two Molotov cocktails melted computers, destroyed archives and  burned the first two floors of the Charlie Hebdo newspaper’s offices in Paris about 1 a.m., officials said. There were no reported injuries and authorities said they had no suspects as of Wednesday afternoon.

The special issue, which the paper said was "guest edited" by the prophet Muhammad, covers the recent victory of the Islamist Nahda party in Tunisian elections, as well as the announcement by Libyan leaders that Sharia law would form the basis for its future legislation.

The cover drawing of a bug-eyed character wearing a turban is accompanied by the words, “100 lashes if you don’t die laughing!”

Moderate Islamist party in Tunisia takes wide election lead

REPORTING FROM TUNIS, TUNISIA -- Tunisia’s moderate Islamist party was seeking to form a unity government Tuesday amid indications that it may win more than 40% of the seats in an assembly that will write a new constitution and test the cooperation between Islamists and secularists at building a democracy.

Tunisia, which inspired the so-called Arab Spring uprisings, is moving beyond decades of autocracy in an effort to put together a government based on the revolution that overthrew President Zine el Abidine ben Ali. But secularists and liberals fear that the apparent widespread victory by the Islamist party, Nahda, may jeopardize civil liberties and edge the country toward a strict Sharia law.

Nahda officials have said they want to forge alliances with all parties to draft a constitution that will set an example for other countries in a region gripped by upheaval and uncertainty. The negotiations will probably prove delicate as Nahda leaders, including Rachid Ghannouchi, who spent years in exile, now have the moment and possibly the mandate to establish their own style of political Islam.

"We will not shut anyone out of our consultations," Nahda campaign manager Abdelhamid Jlazzi said at the party’s headquarters. He added that Nahda would reach out to "political parties in the assembly and outside it, and civil society groups and unions. There will be continuity because we came to power via democracy, not with tanks."

Moderate Islamist party declares victory in Tunisia elections

REPORTING FROM TUNIS, TUNISIA -- Tunisia’s moderate Islamist party appeared to win elections for an assembly to draft a constitution Monday, a sign of religion’s growing influence over politics in the country that inspired uprisings across the Arab world.

The apparent victory by Nahda is certain to resonate throughout the region, especially in Egypt where the Muslim Brotherhood is expected to post a strong showing in parliamentary elections next month. Nahda’s ascent from banned organization to popular force indicates that an emerging political Islam may replace decades of rule by secular autocrats.

That prospect indicates that much of the Middle East and North Africa regard Islam and politics as indivisible, a dynamic that has upset liberals in battles over civil rights and what styles of governments will rise from the so-called Arab Spring. Nahda has consistently promised that it is committed to pluralism and tolerance but its opponents claim it masks a more conservative agenda.

Preliminary results reported by a radio station suggest Nahda won at least 30% of the 217 seats in the constituent assembly in electionsSunday. Party officials claimed that Nahda was ahead in most regions and could win more than 40% of the seats in the body, which will frame the nation’s laws and prepare for presidential elections.

Workers at the state media center said ballots were still being counted and that official results were expected Tuesday.

Tunisians vote in first free elections since 'Arab Spring'

REPORTING FROM TUNIS, TUNISIA — As Mondher Kouki waited to vote Sunday in the first free elections since uprisings began sweeping the Arab world in January, he complained about the cost of electricity, the dubious promises of politicians and the prospect that he wouldn’t be able to afford a sheep to slaughter for an upcoming holy festival.

He and dozens of his neighbors stood in the sun in a Tunis slum to cast ballots for an assembly to write the country’s new constitution. They all remembered the thrilling days of 10 months ago when street protests that began in Tunisia resulted in the toppling of President Zine el Abidine ben Ali — and inspired a series of "Arab Spring" uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East. 

But the euphoria of revolt, as in other Arab countries, has been subsumed by the burden of living in nations spoiled by autocrats. Kouki unfolded his $102 electricity bill. His friends, who had their own bills, bit their lips and shook their heads. How does a shipping port clerk with two children, a wife and a mother-in-law to feed come up with that kind of money?

"Am I going to buy a sheep for Eid or pay this bill?" he asked. "I’ll borrow money or take away from my children’s education. I thought when Ben Ali was forced from power things would get better. Yet it’s the same."

But across much of the capital, car horns blew and flags rippled as Tunisians were once again at the center of the protest movement. The choosing of a constituent assembly, which has turned into a battle between Islamists and secularists, is a sign that fresh voices and political powers are creating a new nation out of Ben Ali’s defeated police state. 

Tunis crowds gather for anti-censorship march

REPORTING FROM TUNIS, TUNISIA -- In the latest turn in an increasingly heated debate between Islamic conservatives and secularists in Tunisia, thousands of liberal demonstrators descended on the Tunisian capital Sunday afternoon to take part in a march for freedom of expression and against censorship.

The demonstration, dubbed "Aataqni" or "set me free" in Tunisian Arabic, came only two days after throngs of Islamist protesters marched through central Tunis calling for the implementation of Islamic law and the shutting down of Nessma TV. The station recently outraged Islamists by airing the animated feature film Persepolis, which includes a scene depicting God, forbidden under Islamic law.

Liberals, meanwhile, appear to be alarmed at the fervor of Islamists, with just one week until landmark elections for a constituent assembly, which will write a new constitution after the overthrew this year of President Zine al-Abedine ben Ali. 

"If we accept this kind of censorship, it could lead to censorship of other programs, such as educational ones," 32-year-old demonstrator Tarek Marsouguy told World Now. "So we have to fight for freedom of expression."