Magharebia

Meeting for the first time on Thursday (January 20th), the new Tunisian cabinet ordered the immediate seizure of all assets from ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's party, the Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD), AFP reported. The cabinet also passed a general amnesty bill freeing political prisoners and legalising banned political parties.

Three days of national mourning for the victims of the Tunisian Revolution began Friday. According to the latest official figures, 78 people were killed during five weeks of protests. The United Nations, however, set the number of victims at more than 100. The UN human rights chief will send a team to Tunisia next week to assess the situation.

"It is important that the international community does what it can to support the clear desire of the Tunisian people to see that justice is done," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in Geneva on Wednesday. "It is equally important that, in the meantime, people do not take the law into their own hands. Issues relating to justice and fair trials need to be strengthened, not undermined by further acts of violence."