Tunisia LiveBlog: What Emerges Today?

2045 GMT: Speaking on the BBC World Service, a young Tunisian said men between the ages of 18 and 40, armed with baseball bats, are gathering in neighbourhoods to protect their homes.

1830 GMT: Privately-owned Nesma TV is reporting that Imad Trabelsi --- the nephew of Leila Trabelsi, the wife of deposed President Ben Ali --- is dead.

There are no details, but earlier in the day rumours had circulated on Twitter that Trabelsi had died as the family's homes in the Tunis suburbs were being ransacked yesterday.

Trabelsi, the nephew was named in a 2008 US diplomatic cable as a "particularly important economic actor" in the corruption of the Trabelsi family. In 2006, he had caused a scandal by reportedly stealing the yacht of a well-connected French businessman, Bruno Roger, Chairman of Lazard Paris.

1800 GMT: Channel 7, considered a propaganda outlet for the deposed President, has renamed itself National TV.

1745 GMT: A resident of Gammarth, near Tunis tells the BBC that people in her neighbourhood are organising to protect themselves from militia:

We can hear helicopters overhead. The militia are driving around in cars with the licence plates removed but we recognise them because they are in the white Toyotas that belong to the security forces, as well as rental cars and trucks. This morning I saw the Army with a tank down at La Marsa beach. They were stopping anyone who they recognised as police or militia. They were pulling over any jeeps or vans that looked liked them.

1625 GMT: A first-hand report from Tunis to the BBC....

Many petrol stations are empty/closed, the lines for others are huge, a similar problem with food supplies is begging to present itself (many supermarkets are now burnt or have been emptied by looters, adding to this problem)....People line the roads with bags on their back, hoping to hitchhike out of the city, fearing for the worst in the next few days.

1605 GMT: Reports are circulating that Slim Chiboub, the son-in-law of President Ben Ali, has been arrested while trying to escape to Libya. Footage is in our video section.

1555 GMT: Acting President Fuad Mbazza, having taken authority this morning from Mohammed Ghannouchi, has named Ghannouchi as Prime Minister.

Ghannouchi, who was Prime Minister under deposed President Ben Ali, was commanded to form a "national unity government in the country's best interests" in which all political parties will be consulted "without exception nor exclusion".

1515 GMT: CNN's Ben Wedeman reports from Tunis: "Municipal workers now removing huge posters of Bin Ali in Place de l'Independence. No fanfare. No cheering. No civilians."

1336 GMT: An aide says that Sakher Materi, the son-in-law of deposed President Ben Ali, is now in Dubai.

Tunisia's private Nesma television station had reported on Friday that Materi had been arrested along with several relatives (see yesterday's updates).

1334 GMT: French officials say they have blocked "suspicious movements" of Tunisian assets.

Pictures: Is This A New Military and a New Country? Analysis: 4 Lessons for the Arab World Special: What Happens When an Uprising is Ignored? Video: The "Jasmine Revolution"? Friday LiveBlog: Will Ben Ali's "Last Card" Be Trumped?

1330 GMT: A second prison incident: a doctor at a hospital in Monastir confirms that 42 bodies from a prison fire in the city have been received.

1305 GMT: Witnesses have told Reuters that dozens of prisoners were killed in the mass escape from a prison in the town of Mahdia, 140 kilometres (85 miles) south of Tunis.

A witness said the prison had 1200 inmates. Many "tried to flee, police opened fire on them. Now there are dozens of dead provided by everyone".

1210 GMT: AFP claims relatives of deposed President Ben Ali have taken up residence in "VIP accommodation" at Disneyland Paris.

1035 GMT: Tunisia state television reports that, following his meeting with opposition leaders, Mohammad Ghannouchi has handed over Presidential authority to Speaker of Parliament Fuad Mbazza.

One report claims that Hamma Hammami, the head of the Workers Communist Party, refused to participate in a Ghannouchi government.

1030 GMT: Journalists in Tunis report that police are not allowing them to film.

The main road in Tunis, Avenue Bourguiba, and other thoroughfares have been blocked off by troops, and AFP reports there are few people on the streets.

1025 GMT: The Associated Press reports that a crowd has razed the main train station in Tunis, as well as looting shops.

An AP photographer saw soldiers intervening early Saturday to stop looters from sacking a huge supermarket in the Ariana area, 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the capital.

1015 GMT: Acting President Mohammed Ghannouchi has met the head of the Ettajdid Party, Ahmed Ibrahim, the head of the Labour Party, Mustafa Ben Jaafar,and lawyer Najib Chebbi.

1010 GMT: Demonstrators in the southern city of Qabis entered a government building and found documentation of the state's repression. At least one memorandum has made it onto the Internet:

1000 GMT: The Committee to Protect Journalists has welcomed the freeing of detained bloggers Azyz Amamy and Slim Amamou and journalist Nizar Ben Hasan, a correspondent for Radio Kalima.

The CPJ calling for the release of another journalist, Fahem Boukadous, a correspondent for the satellite television station Al-Hiwar al-Tunisi.

Boukadous was arrested in July 2010 and sentenced to four years in prison on charges of "belonging to a criminal association" and spreading materials "likely to harm public order".

0805 GMT: All incoming flights to Tunis except one have been cancelled. Some flights are leaving.

0745 GMT: After hours of conflicting reports --- the ousted President was going to Malta, he had landed in Italy, he had been turned away in France --- Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his family landed in Saudi Arabia last night.

The Saudi regime announced, "Out of concern for the exceptional circumstances facing the brotherly Tunisian people and in support of the security and stability of their country...the Saudi government has welcomed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his family to the kingdom." 

However, this was a small if dramatic example of the uncertainty that followed the collapse of Ben Ali's Presidency on Friday. The bigger political questions take over from the deposed autocrat's fate.

After more confusion in Tunis --- had the military staged a coup? was the Speaker of Parliament Fuad Mbazza assuming authority? --- former Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi announced on television, "Since the president is temporarily unable to exercise his duties, it has been decided that the prime minister will exercise temporarily the [presidential] duties." 

Some politicians, lawyers, and activists protested that Ghannouchi's move was unconstitutional, since the Presidency should have gone to Mbazza. Academic Noureddine Miladi declared:

It is manipulation of the constitution. It has been argued by the likes of Iyad bin Ashur, one of the top lawyers in Tunisia.  He argues that the head of parliament is the only legitimate party able to form a legitimate [caretaker] government, for about 45 days and then [they must] call for elections.

He [the speaker of the parliament] is supposed to oversee the success of the election. Ghannouchi is part of the same corrupt political elite as Ben Ali. There is nothing new in what happened today, it is a different twist of the game.

The response to these charges, it was claimed (but not confirmed), was that Mbazza was ill and that Ghannouchi would hand over the Presidency "in a few days".

Ghannouchi, a trained economist, has been close to Ben Ali for many years. He was Prime Minister since 1999, serving previously as Minister for International Cooperation and Minister of Foreign Investment..

Ghannouchi said his actions were in line with Article 56 of the constitution, though observers pointed out that the line of succession should legally pass first to the speaker of parliament. Noureddine Miladi, a sociology and media lecturer of Tunisian origin,  explained.

It is manipulation of the constitution. It has been argued by the likes of Iyad bin Ashur, one of the top lawyers in Tunisia.  He argues that the head of parliament is the only legitimate party able to form a legitimate [caretaker] government, for about 45 days and then [they must] call for elections.

[The Speaker of the Parliament] is supposed to oversee the success of the election. Ghannouchi is part of the same corrupt political elite as Ben Ali. There is nothing new in what happened today, it is a different twist of the game.

And there was still tension on the streets, with reports of looting of government buildings and houses in Tunis and other cities. Reports continued of protests outside the Ministry of Interior calling for Ghannouchi's immediate resignation. The State of Emergency Law, invoked yesterday, is still in effect. There is an overnight curfew, and police have the authority to use any necessary force to halt a suspect who does not heed a warning to halt.