20110208
xinhua

TUNIS (Reuters) - Gunshots were fired in the centre of the Tunisian capital on Tuesday, people in the area said, in a new blow to faltering efforts to restore security after the overthrow of the autocratic president.

Three witnesses told Reuters they heard shooting coming from streets near Avenue Bourguiba, the main thoroughfare in Tunis, but none could see who was responsible.

"I heard sporadic gunfire," one of the witnesses, who was near the Tunis city government building, told Reuters. Soon after, the area was back to normal with no signs of any disturbances.

Security had seemed to be slowly returning to Tunisia three weeks after a wave of protests forced President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, in power for 23 years, to flee to Saudi Arabia.

But in the past few days violence has flared up again, with at least five people killed since Friday in clashes between police and protesters in provincial towns. Army reservists have been called up to help restore order.

The gunshots on Tuesday were the first time shooting had been heard in the capital for at least two weeks.

EUROPEAN AID

Tunisia's uprising against Ben Ali's authoritarian rule inspired protest movements elsewhere in the Arab world, notably in Egypt, and its halting progress towards stability is being watched closely in the region.