Jobless Tunisian Protesters Clash with Police
Jobless protesters in an industrial suburb of Tunis threw petrol bombs and stones at police trying to break up their sit-in at a cargo handling company, the interior ministry said Monday.
The protest was sparked by the publication at the weekend of successful applicants for job openings at a stevedoring company near the port of Rades, 15 kilometers (nine miles) south of Tunis, the ministry said.
Ministry spokesman Kaled Tarouche told Agence France Presse the protesters blocked traffic and threw petrol bombs and rocks at police when officers tried to remove them.
Tarouche said a number of protesters were arrested, but that he did not know how many.
The Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LTDH) said at least 16 had been arrested and condemned what it called "savage aggression" by the police.
LTDH's local branch called for authorities to "immediately free those arrested, stop terrorizing residents and take their demands for employment seriously."
Unemployment was a key driver of Tunisia's January 2011 revolution, which sparked a string of uprisings in the region dubbed the Arab Spring.
Joblessness currently stands at about 19 percent.
Source: Agence France Presse
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