The Tunisian army moved tanks and hundreds of troops on to the streets on Saturday, in an attempt to restore law and order after president Zeinal-Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia late on Friday leaving a security vacuum in what has been one of North Africa’s most stable states. As joy that 23-years of repressive rule had ended gave way to fears that the country might descend into chaos, the army took control of security from the police, who are seen as supporting the president. The military has stood aloof during a month of popular uprising. “I am happy he is gone,” said Kamal Rachedi, a shop worker. “But I did not want it to be this way. I wanted him to organise elections and then leave, so he would go, but without this chaos. As evening fell thick columns of smoke rose from buildings in the capital, where looters appear to have set fire to shops. An army helicopter circled overhead. Parts of the capital were terrorised on Saturday by squads of men in civilian clothes who drove through the city at high speed shooting randomly at buildings and people in what many suspect was an attempt by forces loyal to the ousted president to sow chaos and destabilise a tense transition. The interim president – Fouad Mebazaa, the former president of the lower house of parliament – ordered the creation of a unity government that could include the opposition, which had been ignored under President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's 23 years of autocratic rule. Mr. Ben Ali fled the country Friday for Saudi Arabia following a popular uprising and deadly riots. Anger over corruption and a lack of jobs and civil liberties ignited a month of protests, but Mr. Ben Ali's departure – a key demand of demonstrators – did not quell the unrest. While the protests were mostly peaceful, after Mr. Ben Ali's departure rioters burned the main train station in Tunis and looted shops.
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