Hassene Dridi, AP 
 
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 TUNIS, Tunisia -- Gunfire rang out Sunday in central Tunis near the Interior Ministry, as police and troops try to calm tensions after the president's ouster.Issam Chebbi, a senior member of the main opposition party PDP, said a gunfight also broke out Sunday between security forces and unidentified attackers in front of the opposition party headquarters. A big crowd was gathered in front of the building and heavy security was deployed in the area.Soon afterward, repeated volleys of gunfire were heard nearby, near the Interior Ministry. The source of the shots was unclear.The violence broke out as Tunisia sped toward a new future after its iron-fisted leader fled. A new interim president ordered the country's first multiparty government to be formed.But violence in many parts of the capital heaped doubt on hopes for a smooth transition to a new era.The omnipresent posters of ex-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali were coming down, a vivid signal to citizens that Tunisia is moving on after 23 years of autocratic rule. Even the main state TV station changed its name.For Tunisians who protested for four weeks - with police shooting dozens to death - the announcement that a "government of national unity" would be formed opens the possibility of a leap toward democracy in this Muslim country in North Africa whose modernity clashed with Ben Ali's repressive rule.The nation must wait 60 days to see whether the party that maintained the ex-leader in power gets an upper hand in the new government, locking the old system back in place.The 74-year-old Ben Ali fled his country Friday for Saudi Arabia, literally chased out by angry legions of citizens protesting joblessness, corruption and lack of freedoms - a first for an Arab country. Numerous citizens laid a large measure of blame for his fate on his in-laws, supremely wealthy and considered just as corrupt.The interim president, Fouad Mebazaa, the former president of the lower house of parliament, was named Saturday - the second change of power in fewer than 24 hours. He quickly ordered the creation of a unity government that by its nature would include the opposition which had been frozen out under Ben Ali."We can start to hope," said a founder of the main opposition party, the Progressive Democratic Party, Nejib Chebbi. The question now, he said, is whether a new government will be pluralistic or again dominated by Ben Ali's ruling RCD party. "If the RCD is dominant, we're not out of the woods."The Tunis airport reopened Saturday but the state of emergency declared Thursday continued. Instability ruled in the streets and spotter helicopters churned in the sky above the capital.Fire blackened the main Tunis train station, torched along with large stores and scattered shops as troublemakers defied a curfew Friday night.At least 42 people were killed Saturday in a prison fire in a resort town and the director of another prison let 1,000 inmates flee after a deadly rebellion.Assailants fired on police guarding the Interior Ministry in a bold attack on the symbol of the Ben Ali reign and police returned fire, battening down the city center. An Associated Press Television News cameraman near the scene saw two bodies on the ground. Their identities were not known.Street violence took a new form Saturday with marauding gangs sacking homes in at least one wealthy neighborhood and residents, armed with golf clubs, forming self-styled vigilante committees to protect themselves.Rumors were rife in a chaotic Tunisia, with some citizens voicing suspicions the gangs were made up of Ben Ali loyalists bent on sewing chaos in the country.Many Tunisians also expressed worries about what lies ahead."This all happened in three days. Maybe tomorrow we can't eat," said Mohsen Yacoubi, referring to the mostly closed shops in the capital. He said Ben Ali's departure should have been negotiated over time. "Instead, it's war right away."Soldiers took up posts around Tunis, with tanks guarding strategic facilities like ministries and some major crossroads. The army presence was clear but discrete. Police were everywhere.Two quick changes in leadership since Ben Ali bowed out fed rumors that the army was the shadow ruler in a country without a government.Longtime Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi, a Ben Ali ally, stepped stepped in briefly Friday to assume power after Ben Ali fled, leaving open the possibility that the longtime leader could return. But on Saturday, Constitutional Council President Fethi Abdennadher declared the president's departure permanent and gave lawmaker Mebazaa 60 days in which to organize new elections.Hours later, 77-year-old Mebazaa was sworn in and announced that all parties will be consulted "without exception or exclusion.""Ben Ali was a military dictator and everyone knows it," said Nouredine Jouini, 56, a former mechanical designer now guarding a closed up mall on Tunis' main avenue. But, he added, "The people aren't dumb. We know the prime minister was appointed by defense forces .... But it won't stay this way. Tunisia will function."Streets were flush with police, for decades the most visible - and most feared - force in Tunisia. Cars were checked, particularly rental cars considered suspect as gangs combed the city.In the idyllic coastal resort of Monastir, a prison fire killed 42 people, coroner Tarek Mghirbi told The Associated Press on Saturday. The cause of the fire was not immediately clear. In Mahdia, a resort town further down the coast, inmates were set free after a rebellion by prisoners who set fire to the facility holding some 1,000. Soldiers opened fire and five inmates were killed, a top local official said, asking not to be identified because of security concerns.A Paris-based photographer, Lucas Mebrouk Dolega of the EPA photo agency, was in critical condition Saturday after being hit in the face by a tear gas canister.An Associated Press photographer saw soldiers fire warning shots and try to stop looters from sacking the supermarket in Ariana, north of the capital, to no avail. Shops near the Tunis bazaar were also looted.Public television station TV7 - just renamed Tunisian National Television - broadcast phone calls from residents of working-class neighborhoods on the capital's outskirts, describing attacks against their homes by knife-wielding assailants. Young boys were seen armed with long sticks along some streets.The wealthy were not spared, with some homes sacked in the upper class La Marsa neighborhood.Tunisian television has urged citizens to organize patrols, and men and boys in the tony Tunis neighborhood of El Menzah set up makeshift barricades and armed themselves with golf clubs and baseball bats for patrols against intruders.Businesses owned by member's of Ben Ali's family also appeared to be targets. The family of the ex-president's wife, Leila Trabelsi, has financial interests in wide-ranging sectors from banking to car dealerships. A branch of the Zeitouna bank in Tunis founded by Ben Ali's son-in-law was torched, as were vehicles made by Kia, Fiat and Porsche - brands distributed in Tunisia by members of the ruling family."This isn't good at all. I'm very afraid for the kids and myself," said Lilia Ben Romdhan, a mother of three in central Tunis. "If (Ben Ali) had stayed in the country it would be better."Saudi King Abdullah's palace ended hours of speculation about where Ben Ali had fled to, confirming Saturday that the ousted president and some family members had landed in Saudi Arabia. The palace said the kingdom welcomed him with a wish for "peace and security to return to the people of Tunisia."A source inside the kingdom said he was in the small city of Abha, about 310 miles (500 kilometers) south of Jeddah - taken there to avoid sparking any possible demonstrations by Tunisians living in the larger, seaside city of Jeddah. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.The whereabouts of all family members were unclear.The French government said some members are in France - former colonial ruler - but are "not welcome." Spokesman Francois Baroin told France-Info radio that Ben Ali's family "have not shown a desire to stay on French soil and are going to leave."Thousands of tourists were being evacuated from the Mediterranean nation, where tourism is a chief industry.Ben Ali's downfall sent a warning to other autocratic leaders across the Arab world, especially because he did not seem vulnerable until very recently and managed his country of 10 million better than many other Middle Eastern nations.However, the new era he dubbed "The Change" - starting when he snatched power from the nation's founder, President Habib Bourguiba, in a bloodless palace coup in 1987 - never fully materialized.The improved quality of life for many failed to keep up with the increased limits on civil rights like freedom of expression and a growing reputation as a police state - invisible to the tourists flocking to the country's Mediterranean beaches.The unemployment rate stands officially at 14 percent but is thought to be far higher among the young - who make up 52 percent of Tunisia's 10 million inhabitants.The self-immolation, and eventual death, of a 26-year-old university graduate selling fruits in central Tunisia triggered a dizzying series of riots that moved to the capital and, relayed by social media like Facebook, spun into general anger over the regime.Nicolas Garriga, Oleg Cetinic in Tunis, Hassan Ammar in Doha, Qatar and Angela Doland and Jenny Barchfield in Paris contributed to this report. ||||| The leadership of this troubled country changed hands for the second time in less than 24 hours Saturday as security forces and ordinary Tunisians struggled to quell mayhem that some have attributed to henchmen loyal to ousted President Zine el Abidine ben Ali Fouad Mebazaa, president of the lower house of the parliament, was sworn in as chief of state amid fast-moving political developments and chaotic lawlessness that have transformed Tunisia into a symbol of revolution in the Arab world.Mebazaa, 77, became the national president less than a day after Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia , handing power to his prime minister, Mohamed Ghannouchi, whose appointment sparked new demonstrations and questions about constitutional propriety. Mebazaa promised in a televised speech to consult with all political parties before holding elections within 60 days."I urge you all, and all dynamic forces of political parties, national organizations and components of civil society to put national interest first and to help the armed forces and national security in maintaining security and in protecting private and public property, and to restore calm and tranquillity to all citizens," he said.With video of the uprising airing constantly on satellite television throughout the region, the events in Tunisia have captivated Arabs who hope it will inspire the toppling of other entrenched authoritarian regimes. That has raised the stakes for a people's power rebellion that could be threatened by the continuing violence.Tension and confusion gripped the streets, where many residents spent hours searching for bread and other food.Army tanks were positioned in the heart of Tunis, along the capital's main Avenue Habib Bourguiba . Death toll figures were not available, but scores of people across the nation have died in the unrest, including 57 reportedly killed Saturday in an inferno at a prison.As a 5 p.m. curfew approached, surly young men appeared to be gathering steam for another night of clashes with police officers, who stalked sidewalks wearing riot gear and holding clubs, menacing pedestrians who didn't move quickly enough.As night fell, occasional bursts of gunfire could be heard throughout Tunis and its suburbs, as well as the occasional roar of army helicopters roaming the skies.Common criminals and overzealous young demonstrators have contributed to the spasm of looting and violence in this previously placid and tightly controlled North African country. But just as loyalists to Iraq's Saddam Hussein set off fires and released prisoners in the wake of his 2003 ouster by U.S.-led forces, security officials loyal to the autocratic Ben Ali, many Tunisians suspect, have played a role in the unrest here."These are not ordinary people," said Bochra Belhaj Hmida, a lawyer and human rights activist. "They are at risk because they tortured people. They are going to be condemned for their crimes if they are arrested."The country's constitutional court ruled Saturday that the departure of Ben Ali, driven out of office Friday after weeks of protests over rising food prices, unemployment and a lack of political freedom, was permanent. And France , the former colonial power that had long backed Ben Ali, asked relatives of the former president who had entered the country to leave and announced the launch of investigations of suspicious money transfers between Tunisia and France.Many Tunisians suspect that former members of Ben Ali's presidential guard, his most brutal adjutants in the Interior Ministry and loyalists in his ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally were fomenting the violence to discredit the protesters and contribute to chaos that would justify harsh security measures."These are people from the ex-government who are orchestrating everything," said Mokhtar Trifi, president of the Tunisian Human Rights League, an opposition group.Officials of the interim government could not be reached for comment. But there were signs that security forces loyal to the interim government, especially the army, were trying to beat back efforts by the former regime to spread chaos.Al Jazeera pan-Arab satellite television network reported the arrest of Ali Seriati, the head of Ben Ali's despised presidential guard. In the capital's November 7 Square, police fatally shot two of their own, explaining to a European journalist at the scene that the pair were former regime loyalists who were responsible for crimes.Mohammad ben Ghomdhan, head of a small socialist political party, Renewal, that is conferring with the interim government, said officials had told him Saturday that during the preceding two days, soldiers at army checkpoints had seized two armored Interior Ministry vehicles filled with weapons.On television shows, on the Internet and in the few cafes that remained open in the capital, many said they feared that security officials close to Ben Ali also were responsible for an outbreak of violence at the country's prisons. Al Jazeera cited a medical source as saying 57 people had died in a fire at a prison in Monastir, about 80 miles southeast of the capital, amid reports of attempted escapes at at least two other detention facilities.Al Jazeera also reported that political prisoners held at Borj Roumi prison in the northern port city of Bizerte had been released. It was not clear who had given the order to free them.On the streets, the tension between the population and the police, which answers to the Interior Ministry, was palpable, as was the higher status that Tunisians accord their army.When police officers tried to detain a young man at the square near the Republic Metro station, a crowd waiting for a tram erupted with fury, moving toward the officers and tossing rocks. The police fired teargas volleys, but the crowd only got angrier and moved closer."We are not afraid!" they chanted.A group of soldiers ran into the square to intervene, forcing the police to release the man. The crowd cheered the man as he boarded the tramway platform.Numerous videos posted on the Internet during the weeks of protest showed police officers in uniform smashing shop windows and setting fires. In the hours after Ben Ali stepped down, residents of the Manar and Menzah neighborhoods of Tunis reported spotting vans dropping off people armed with clubs and canisters of gasoline to start fires. Some of the witnesses said the vehicles were escorted by police.Ben Ghomdhan said that unlike in post-invasion Iraq, where the U.S. disbanded the army and regime stalwarts were able to organize an insurgency in the ensuing power vacuum, Tunisia's interim government and relatively popular army were already a step ahead of the Ben Ali loyalists."I think they cannot win," he said. "These networks have been identified, from the information that I have so far. Their chief, Seriati, has been arrested, and many of his networks have already been arrested." ||||| Protestors shout slogans against former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in the center of Tunis, Monday, Jan. 17. 2011. Police were seen using tear gas to break up a demonstration on the main... (Associated Press) 
 
 Tunisian security forces fired tear gas to repel angry demonstrators Monday as the country's interim leaders prepared to announce a new government that for the first time will include opposition members. 
 
 Helicopters swirled overhead at the demonstration in central Tunis as authorities haltingly tried to stabilize the North African nation after days of unrest. There were also unconfirmed reports of the arrest or killing of gunmen behind shooting rampages since autocratic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on Friday. 
 
 "Ben Ali must be judged," read one sign in English at the demonstration, whose protesters soon dispersed. Some were demanding that Ben Ali's ruling party be locked out of any future power-sharing arrangement. 
 
 Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, a longtime ally of Ben Ali, said a new national unity government was likely to be announced later Monday that would include former regime opponents _ a move that would mark an unprecedented transition of power in the Arab world. 
 
 Many Tunisians were hopeful about the first new government in 23 years but wary of what the future may hold. 
 
 The European Union said Monday it stands ready to help Tunisia become a democracy and will offer economic aid. EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said the 27-nation bloc is willing to "prepare and organize the electoral process" in Tunisia. 
 
 Finance Minister Christine Lagarde of France _ a former colonial overseer of Tunisia _ told French radio that Paris is keeping a close watch on the assets of Tunisians in French banks. 
 
 Shops in the center of Tunis remained shuttered Monday, and police were deployed in force. A semblance of normal daily life returned in other areas of the capital where shops, gas stations, pharmacies and supermarkets reopened. Many people returned to their jobs and others rushed to buy scarce stables like bread, fish and milk. 
 
 Hundreds of stranded tourists were still being evacuated from the country, and foreign airlines gradually resumed the flights that were halted when Tunisian airspace closed amid the upheaval. 
 
 The constitution requires elections in 60 days after the departure of a leader, but one opposition leader told The Associated Press that Tunisian authorities could announce presidential elections in the next six months instead. 
 
 The opposition PDP party has pushed for a later timetable because its leaders feel Tunisians need time to familiarize themselves with the parties so elections can be credible after decades of one-party rule, the official said. 
 
 Nejib Chebbi, a PDP founder and its longtime leader, and two other leaders of opposition parties are expected to gain posts in the new government along with some members of Ben Ali's former regime, the party official, speaking said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. 
 
 Moncef Marzouki, a professor of medicine who leads the once-banned CPR party from exile in France where he has lived for the last 20 years, told France-Info radio he would be a candidate in the presidential election. 
 
 "The question is whether there will be or won't be free and fair elections," said Marzouki, whose movement is of the secular left. 
 
 Whatever emerges, the new leadership will first face the challenge of restoring order. Looting, gunbattles, and score-settling have roiled the country since Friday, when a month of street protests against years of repression, corruption and a lack of jobs brought down Ben Ali. 
 
 Over the weekend, police arrested dozens of people, including the top presidential security chief, as tensions appeared to mount between Tunisians buoyant over Ben Ali's ouster and loyalists in danger of losing many perks. 
 
 Ex-presidential security chief Ali Seriati and his deputy were charged with a plot against state security, aggressive acts and for "provoking disorder, murder and pillaging," the TAP state news agency reported. 
 
 Fierce gunbattles broke out between the two groups around the presidential palace Sunday in Carthage on the Mediterranean shore, north of Tunis and near the Interior Ministry in the capital. 
 
 "We won't be tolerant towards these people," Ghannouchi said. 
 
 The protests began last month after an educated but jobless 26-year-old set himself on fire when police confiscated the fruits and vegetables he was selling without a permit. His desperate act _ from which he later died _ hit a nerve, sparked copycat suicides and focused anger against the regime into a widespread revolt. 
 
 In Cairo, an Egyptian man set himself on fire Monday outside the country's parliament, security officials said, an apparent protest emulating the self-immolation in Tunisia. 
 
 The downfall of the 74-year-old Ben Ali, who had taken power in a bloodless coup in 1987, served as a warning to other autocratic leaders in the Arab world. His Mediterranean nation, an ally in the U.S. fight against terrorism and a popular tourist destination known for its wide beaches, deserts and ancient ruins, had seemed more stable than many in the region. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press Writer Raf Casert in Brussels, Hamza Hendawi in Cairo and Jamey Keaten in Paris contributed to this report.
– Tunisia got a new interim president today—parliamentary leader Fouad Mebazaa—who is technically the third leader in 24 hours, notes the Los Angeles Times. He takes over from the previous interim president, who briefly held power when longtime leader El Abidine Ben Ali fled the country in the face of mass protests over rising prices, joblessness, corruption, repression, you name it. The storyline continues to shape up as one that could set a historical precedent—an Arab populace rising up against its leader. Anthony Shadid, New York Times: "The most enthusiastic suggested it was the Arab world’s Gdansk, the birthplace of Solidarity in Poland, which heralded the end to Communist rule in Eastern Europe. That seemed premature, particularly because the contours of the government emerging in Tunisia were still unclear." Shadi Hamid, Huffington Post: "No one should underestimate what happened yesterday in Tunisia. If the revolution succeeds, it may very well prove to be one of the most important moments in recent Arab history. It will alter the calculus not only for Arab regimes—who are watching very, very nervously—but for Western powers that have long oriented their Middle East policy around seemingly stable, autocratic governments." Click for the latest as chaos continues on the streets.