Troops called out to quell austerity protests

Tunisia’s military has been deployed in several cities after three nights of protests over the government’s new austerity measures.

Demonstrators have clashed with security forces after a new budget raised taxes and pushed up the cost of living. More than 600 people have been arrested and dozens of police injured.

Young men have burned tyres and hurled Molotov cocktails and stones, while police have responded with tear gas. One man was killed on Tuesday in disputed circumstances: protesters say he was run over by a police vehicle,

TUNISIA:

while authorities deny that and suggest he may have died from respiratory problems.

The protests reflect months of frustration in a country sometimes described as the ‘‘only success story’’ of the Arab Spring. Tunisians overthrew Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the longtime dictator, in 2011 and inspired similar uprisings in Egypt, Libya and Syria.

While the other revolutions have descended into violence or given way to authoritarianism, Tunisia’s democracy remains for the most part intact.

A secular party leads the government in coalition with a moderate Islamist group, but in return for a loan of US$2.9 billion from the International Monetary Fund, Tunisia has agreed to take economic measures to bring down the country’s deficit.

On January 1, a new budget came into force which raised petrol prices and a series of taxes on houses, cars and other items.

The government ordered soldiers on to the streets, and more demonstrations are expected today, as Friday is the traditional day of protest in the Middle East and North Africa. – Telegraph Group