Jobless protests stir growing unrest in Tunisia

Fresh protests over unemployment and poverty in central Tunisia today raised fears of growing social unrest five years after the country's revolution ignited by similar grievances.
The discontent spread to several towns in central Tunisia, with demonstrators taking to the streets.
Protests and clashes with security forces started in Kasserine following the death on Saturday of an unemployed man who was electrocuted atop a power pole near the governor's office.
Ridha Yahyaoui (28) was protesting after his name was removed from a list of hires for coveted public sector jobs.
"It's as if we were back in 2010-2011," Al-Shuruk newspaper wrote, referring to the revolution that overthrew dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

The uprising was sparked by the death of Mohamed Bouazizi, who set himself on fire in nearby Sidi Bouzid, in protest at unemployment and police harassment in December 2010 and died a month later.

In the face of this week's burgeoning unrest, Prime Minister Habib Essid cut short a European tour to return home today.
Essid is to chair an emergency cabinet meeting on Saturday and give a news conference, his office said in a statement.
Despite the success of Tunisia's political transition in the past five years, the authorities have failed to resolve the problems of social exclusion and regional disparities.

Tensions remain high in Kasserine, where security forces have used tear gas and water cannon against crowds of hundreds of demonstrators, and the protests have since Tuesday spread to nearby towns.
As on the previous days, protesters today set up roadblocks with burning tyres and pelted security forces with stones, an AFP correspondent said.
In Feriana, 30 kilometres away, a policeman was killed yesterday during an operation to disperse demonstrators, the interior ministry said.
A security source told AFP that he died when his vehicle was overturned.
Today, a crowd of more than 1,000 gathered outside the governor's office in Kasserine demanding information on a government announcement the previous day of plans to create 5,000 jobs.

"We've had enough of promises and being marginalised. We were the ones who led the revolution and we will not stay silent," said protester Marwa Zorgui.