BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZATUNIS, Tunisia - January 12, 2011 - Police and protesters clashed in the center of the Tunisian capital Wednesday, bringing unrest to the government's doorstep after nearly a month of deadly protests that pose the most serious challenge ever to the president's two decades of iron-fisted rule.
The government imposed a curfew overnight, a highly unusual move in this generally stable North African country where pledges by the president to subdue rioters and create jobs have done little to dissipate public fury over unemployment and corruption.
European governments warned travelers about going to Tunisia, whose safe image and Mediterranean beaches draw millions of mainly European travelers and make tourism the mainstay of the small nation's economy.
After more than three weeks of protests outside Tunis, hundreds of protesters emerged from a souk, or market, in the capital and hurled stones at police at a key intersection. Officers responded with volleys of tear gas, driving the protesters to disperse into adjoining streets. Stores in the area were shuttered.
It was not immediately clear whether there were any injuries or arrests. Two army vehicles were posted at the intersection, which is right by the French Embassy.
In another neighborhood in central Tunis, hundreds of protesters tried to reach the regional governor's office but were blocked by riot police. And at the main national union headquarters, police surrounded protesters who tried to break out. Tensions also erupted along the edges of the capital.
The clashes broke out soon after the interior minister was fired, a move that intensified a sense of uncertainty and questions about what's next for autocratic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali - questions that have never been openly posed during his time in power.
The protests erupted in mid-December in an inland town after a young man tried to kill himself. They then hop scotched around the country, as social networks like Facebook spread word of the unrest, circumventing tight control of the media.
Police have repeatedly shot at demonstrators setting fire to buildings and stoning police. The government says 23 people have died but unions and witnesses put the toll at 46 or higher.
