Tunisia: People Power Succeeds Without Western Backing

Inter Press Service - These are scenes Western powers would have loved to see in Iran - thousands of young people braving live bullets and forcing an autocratic ruler out of the country. But it is in the North African nation Tunisia where an uprising forced the Western-backed autocratic President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country.

Demonstrators holds a placard reading 'Ben Ali assassin, France accomplice', during a demonstration in solidarity with Tunisia, in Marseille, southern France , Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011. Unrest engulfed Tunisia on Saturday after a popular rebellion forced the president to flee. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)Western powers remain incredulous. France, the real power broker in the Franco North African nation, was giving Ben Ali tacit support until an hour before he fled Friday. Read more.