Tunisia LiveBlog: Concession or Confrontation?

2140 GMT:Comment of the Night via Twitter....

"Just switched to Tunis TV.There is a democratic debate going on.Is this a joke or what? The country turned democratic in one hour."

2040 GMT: The Tunisian authorities have lifted the block on the multimedia site Nawaat and on the video site YouTube and Daily Motion.

It is also reported that the photographic site Flickr and even sites for pornography are now accessible.

2030 GMT: Just to round off the highlights of the President's speech: he also ordered the reduction of bread, milk, and sugar prices.

1914 GMT: Ben Ali says, "We will give freedom to the media and we will put an end to censorship of the Internet. We must find social remedies."

He assures, "This is not a Presidency for life" and asks those who wish to campaign in 2014 to present themselves.

1910 GMT: The main take-away line from Ben Ali's speech: "All Tunisians must oppose these acts of violence. We do not accept that a single drop of Tunisian blood has been spilled."

He continues, "We must put an end to these acts of violence and looting." He is ordering his Minister of Interior to ensure a stop to firing of live ammunition.

1900 GMT: President Ben Ali is now speaking on national television. It is his third speech during the current protests.

He assures, "I understand Tunisians and have understood their political demands. What has been happening hurts me."

1840 GMT: A graphic video has been posted on Facebook claiming to be of a man killed today by gunfire in Zarzis.

There are also claimed videos of gunfire in the streets.

1705 GMT: The Tunisian Foreign Ministry has denied (full statement is not accessible at this point) that Foreign Minister Kamel Morjane has resigned.

1645 GMT: A contact advises EA that the Foreign Minister's website and Twitter account may have been hacked, leading to a fake resignation letter.

1625 GMT: It appears that the Foreign Minister, Kamel Morjane, may have resigned in a letter on his website:

Citizens of the Republic of Tunisia, After witnessing the recent event that our country has been enduring since December17th 2010, I declare my inaptitude [sic] in pursuing my function in a serene and objective environment as intended.

I declare hereby my official resignation from my function as a minister of foreign affairs at the Tunisian government. In a last effort to assume my responsabilities, I am asking the families of the tunisian martyrs to accept my sincere condoleances and my deep regret faced to their common tragedy....

A Twitter account in Marjane's name has also announced the resignation and linked to the website.

1610 GMT: There are unconfirmed reports that an American journalist has been wounded by gunfire and taken to hospital.

1550 GMT: Witnesses have told AFP that police shot dead a demonstrator near the centre of Tunis today. Another demonstrator was seriously wounded --- an unconfirmed report said he also had died.

Claimed footage of the incident (warning: graphic) has been now been posted in our Video Section.

Security forces tried to disperse protesters with tear gas before opening fire.

1445 GMT: The Los Angeles Times reports on a gathering of about 50 Tunisian actors and artists in the Tunis theatre El Teatro to speak out, through plays and songs, about current events: "The republic is in a coma."

Earlier this week, police broke up a demonstration in Tunis of about 100 artists.

1425 GMT: The crowd at the funeral of Hatem Bettahar, the university professor killed yesterday by a sniper in Douz:

1415 GMT: The International Federation for Human Rights claims eight people were killed and more than 50 wounded overnight violence near Tunis.

AFP names two of the victims as Mejdi Nasri (see 1350 GMT) and 24-year-old Malek Habbachi.

1400 GMT: Reports and photos are circulating of the death of Omar Bel Haj, 19, in Sfax yesterday.

1350 GMT: In addition to the confirmed death of a Swiss-Tunisian woman (see 1330 GMT), opposition politician, a union leader, and witnesses say at least four other people were killed last night. One of the dead was named as Mejdi Nasri, 25, a resident of the working-class Ettadamen suburb of Tunis.

The deaths occurred around Tunis and in Bizerte to the north.

Witnesses also say that about 10,000 people are marching today in Sidi Bouzid, where the current wave of protests started almost a month ago.

1340 GMT: Since the mainstream media is now buzzing about social media and its role in recent events, here's a fact: 18.6% of Tunisia's population use Facebook, a higher rate than in Germany.

1335 GMT: The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has called on the Tunisian Government to investigate police killings of civilians and has expressed concern that activists were being arrested and tortured.

Pillay said, "We are trying to verify the number killed. Human rights organizations report almost 40 killed. So clearly that is a result of some excessive measures used, such as snipers, the indiscriminate killing of peaceful protesters."

1330 GMT: The Swiss foreign ministry has confirmed that a Swiss-Tunisian dual national was killed on Wednesday night.

The woman, aged 67, was hit by a stray bullet while watching a demonstration in the town of Dar Chaabane in northern Tunisia.

1310 GMT: Picture of protests in front of the Government office in Monastir on the northeastern coast of Tunisia:

0925 GMT: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton commented during a meeting in Qatar, "There's no problem with people peacefully demonstrating and protesting —-- it's going on in Tunisia right now. We support peaceful protest and the right of assembly."

Clinton's statement follows the declaration of the office of Catherine Ashton, the European Union's representative for foreign policy:

We are concerned about the events that have been taking place in Tunisia in recent days. In particular, we deplore the violence and the death of civilians. We express our sympathy to the families of the victims. We call for restraint in the use of force and for the respect of fundamental freedoms.

Video: The Latest Protests of "Tens of Thousands"

Wednesday LiveBlog: Will President Ben Ali "Go the Way of Romania's Ceausescu"?

0920 GMT: The Committee to Protect Journalists has issued another call to the Tunisian Government to end its crackdown, declaring, "Scores of journalists have been detained in the past four weeks, three of whom remain in custody" and noting other cases such as the seizure of blogger Azyz Amamy.

0730 GMT: Wednesday was a frenetic, shifting 24 hours in Tunisia. It began with overnight demonstrations in the suburbs of Tunis, moved to a mix of Government statements, military manoevures, and mass displays of protests, and ended with stories of a curfew broken by hundreds of youths in the capital.

So where is Tunisia now? The Government's unexpected political move, with the replacement of the Minister of Interior and promises to release detainees and investigate corruption, was twinned with a show of force, as military units established a high-visibility presence in the cities, including Tunis. 

Yet all of this was supplanted later in the day by a set of images coming out of Sfax, the second-largest city in Tunisia. Its official population is 400,000, and tens of thousands of them had come out on the streets in a mass rally. The overhead video of the crowd stunned even the most optimistic activist (and, presumably, even the highest-level Government official). This was followed by images of a smoking Government building and, in contrast, of the demonstrators singing the National Anthem.

The general strike and demonstration in Sfax was only part, however, of what is intended to be three days of stoppages and protests, culminating in Tunis on Friday. Combined with the calls of opposition parties and Tunisia's largest trade union for concessions on detainees and the economic situation, this may have forced the Government's hand yesterday. But at the same time, any concession was going to be accompanied with a show of authority.

The immediate test may be whether the Government follows through on the promise to release those held in the protests that began on 17 December. If so, the space may open up for further conciliation within the establishment, if not necessarily with all those who have grievances. If not, then the confrontation may have been further set.