Tunisian police kill youth at demo

Sat Dec 25, 2010

Tunisian security forces have shot and killed a teenager and injured many others during a demonstration over the country's high rate of joblessness.

The demonstration turned violent and clashes broke out between protesters and police on Friday when protesters attacked a national guard post and set fire to three police cars, a train locomotive, and the local headquarters of the ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally party.

Mohamed Ammari, who was 18, died when he was shot in the chest during a confrontation with security forces in the district of Menzel Bouzaiene, in the central town of Sidi Bouzid (240 kilometers south of the capital Tunis), AFP quoted student representative Mohamed Fadhel as saying.

Several thousand people took part in the demonstration to protest the high unemployment rate among the youth, which quickly turned violent.

Tensions have been running high in the Sidi Bouzid region since 26-year-old university graduate Mohammed Bouazizi attempted to commit suicide in a protest over unemployment on December 17.

Reports say he doused himself in petrol and set himself alight after police confiscated fruits and vegetables he was selling at a street stand because he did not have the necessary permit, the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights said.

The North African country has become a regional focus for international financial institutions since announcing a plan to complete current account convertibility of its dinar currency over the 2010-2012 period.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/156994.html.