Tunisia's Justice Minister Lazhar Karoui Chebbi announced Jan. 25 that the National Unity Government has issued an international arrest warrant for ousted president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and his family. The transitional government also announced that a new cabinet is to be named this week, as well as new governors and ambassadors. Protesters continue to mobilize in the capital to demand the resignation of former members of Ben Ali's regime.

Hundreds of protesters battled riot police in Algiers Jan. 22—many waving Tunisian flags in a reference to the protest movement that brought down the president of the neighboring country last week. The opposition Rally for Culture and Democracy, which called the protest, draped the Tunisian flag next to the Algerian flag over a balcony at the party headquarters. Protesters chanted "Boutef out!"—a reference to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika who has ruled since 1999. Now in his second term of office, Bouteflika has proposed a constitutional amendment that would broaden his powers and allow him to run for office indefinitely. (Albuquerque Express, Jan. 23; BBC News, Jan, 22; Magharebia, Jan. 21)

The neocon conspiracies can't be far behind now. Thomas Carothers of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (proudly billing itself "A Global Think-Tank") notes the suddenness with which the moniker "Jasmine Revolution" has been adopted (and mostly by intellectuals abroad, not protesters in Tunis). But he notes the differences between Tunisia and Georgia ("Rose"), Ukraine ("Orange") and Kyrgyzstan ("Tulip"). Requisite Sorosphobobia is already in evidence. Dr. KR Bolton asks in Foreign Policy Journal: "Tunisian Revolt: Another Soros/NED Jack-Up?" But his screed makes no mention of George Soros or National Endowment for Democracy programs in Tunisia—only in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.

The Tunisian government said Jan. 10 that 14 had been killed in unrest over the weekend in the western towns of Kasserine, Regueb and Thala, while labor and opposition leaders put the figure at 25. Authorities claim the police opened fire on protesters in self-defense. The government has ordered the closure of schools and universities across the country until further notice. Protesters have attacked public buildings and local offices of the party of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who has ruled since taking power in a bloodless coup in 1987.

Rising food prices led to an outbreak of riots in Algeria Jan. 5, with unrest continuing today in several cities. Authorities have rushed police reinforcements to towns where hundreds of youths are taking to the streets and blocking highways. There has been a simultaneous outbreak of youth riots in neighboring Tunisia, which saw a wave of angry demonstrations over unemployment last month.

Moroccan security services broke up a 27-member terrorist network, authorities announced Jan. 5. According to the Interior Ministry, the cell's Moroccan ringleader aimed to set up an al-Qaeda base in the kingdom and send recruits to AQIM training camps in Algeria and Mali. Police found three arms caches near Amghala, "comprising 30 Kalashnikov machine guns, three sub-machine guns, one 82-mm bazooka, two RPG-7 type rocket grenade launchers, several pieces of live ammunition, plus 66 strong-boxes for storing weapons and other munitions", according to Interior Minister Moulay Taieb Cherkaoui. (Magharebia, Jan. 6)

Thousands demonstrated in Madrid Nov. 13 against Morocco's recent crackdown on protesters in the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara. Violence escalated Nov. 8, when Moroccan soldiers and police attacked a protest camp that had been established to mark the 35th anniversary of the territory's annexation by Morocco. The camp at Gdeim Izik, some 15 kilometers outside the regional capital Laayoune (El Aaiun), had grown to over 20,000 since being established on Oct. 9. Western Sahara's independence movement, the Poliario Front, is demanding a UN probe of the repression, claiming 36 protesters were killed, with hundreds injured and more than 160 detained. Morocco denies the claims, while asserting that eight members of its security forces were killed. The clashes occurred on the day that Morocco and Polisario held their latest round of UN-mediated talks near New York on the future of Western Sahara. (Reuters, Nov. 15; Green Left Weekly, Nov. 14; AP, Nov. 13; Sahara Press Service, Nov. 12)

An anti-terrorism forum held this week in Nouakchott, Mauritania's capital, called for a "national charter" to face the threat of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and for "dialogue with the extremists" who are willing to surrender. It also recommended "creation of a center that would teach the culture of moderation" and a social policy to "dry up the sources of terrorism and extremism by fighting ignorance, poverty and exclusion." However, Defense Minister Hamadi Ould Hamadi ended the forum with a shout of: "We will never negotiate with those who bear arms against their country, we will respond to them with weapons!"