Tunisia (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Sitting In for Change

1930 GMT: Picture of the Day? Army Chief of Staff Rachid Ammar addressing protesters in Tunis today (see 1720 and 1755 GMT):

1920 GMT: In Egypt, a man tried to commit suicide by cutting his wrists as about 20 people gathered in front of the Supreme Court to commend the police’s work and criticize protests planned for Tuesday.

Civil servants have received a written warning not to participate in the demonstrations for a "day of revolution against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment". Those who defy the instruction could lose their jobs.

1915 GMT: Tunisian police have put Abdelwahhab Abadlla, the media advisor of former President Ben Ali, under house arrest.

1755 GMT: The latest on the political moves....

Politicians are reportedly negotiating the creation of a committee of "wise men" to replace the interim government. One of the names being mentioned is veteran politician Ahmed Mestiri, the founder of the Movement of Democratic Socialists.

The moves parallel the comments to protestors by Army Chief of Staff Rachid Ammar (see 1720 GMT), who vowed to "defend the revolution" and warned: "Our revolution, your revolution, the revolution of the young, risks being lost....There are forces that are calling for a void, a power vacuum. The void brings terror, which brings dictatorship."

1750 GMT: Courtesy of State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley via Twitter: "U.S. Assistant Secretary [of State] Jeff Feltman arrived in Tunisia today to confer with the interim government on its plans for democratic reforms and elections."

1730 GMT: And now for tomorrow....

The Associated Press notices plans by Egyptian demonstrators to mark Police Day, organising the rally through Facebook, where 80,000 people have logged their support for "the day of revolution against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment".

Organisers on Facebook have challenged people to back up their virtual endorsement with an appearance at the march: "We are not less than Tunisia."

1720 GMT: General Rachid Ammar, the Army Chief of Staff, has given an impromptu speech to hundreds of demonstrators gathered near the Prime Minister's offices, Ammar promised, "The national army is the guarantor of the Revolution. The army has protected and will protect the people and country."

The General continued, "We are faithful to the Constitution. We protect the Constitution."

1710 GMT: Back from an academic break to find that "dozens" of protesters in Tizi Ouzou in Algeria have held a rally in support of detainees arrested during recent demonstrations.

1105 GMT: CNN has picked up on Yemen's release of Tawakul Karman from detention (see 0830 GMT), but there is a significant difference in its story from other accounts.

Other articles have noted the claim of a Government official that Karman, arrested this weekend after she helped organise opposition rallies, was freed after her family promised she would desist. CNN says Karman "agreed to go home" and stop a hunger strike when she was promised that 21 other detainees, arrested this weekend, would be released.

1025 GMT: Some sharp insight from Issandr El Amrani, who has just arrived in Tunis, at The Arabist....

Tunisians are incredibly proud of their revolution, as they should be, and that pride is infectious. In conversations one of the themes that comes up again and again is that people feel they can stand tall again after years of submission, their fear has evaporated. Well, perhaps not entirely: they have new concerns now, but these are fears they intend to confront straight on: the country's economic situation, the risk that elements of the former regime will make a return (whether at the level of the cabinet with the RCD ministers, or more problematically, with the party structure across the country), the risk that what so far has been a revolution remarkable for its orderliness may become more chaotic, and the risk of foreign interference (whether Arab or Western).

Tunisians are not happy with their political class. They are conscious that these people did not topple Ben Ali and that many of them were latecomers to the uprising. Ordinary people I speak to keep on repeating that this was a revolution of the young, and yes they do stress the importance of Facebook. In fact there seems to be a kind of division of labor: older people tell me that they are working overtime to allow younger people, who led this movement, be full-time activists. They feel too old to take part in the demonstrations, but want to support the movement by enabling their sons and daughters, nephews and nieces, to keep pressure on the government.

There is a a tremendous awareness that the pressure must be kept on the government....

The UGTT, a federation of trade unions, is seemingly playing a key role here. Many are puzzled that the UGTT first joined the government and then left it — why did it join it in the first place if it didn't like the presence of the RCDists? The explanation appears to be splits within the UGTT, and with the refusenik faction eventually convincing or dominating the faction in favor of participation. It could also be a gambit from greater representation on the transitional government. It does reflect a certain lack of strategy, a political immaturity that is telling of the political vacuum that existed under Ben Ali: people simply don't have that much experience in these situations or at political brinksmanship. Some feel the UGTT is trying to claim credit for the uprising (where it did play, later on, a significant role). But I think there will be tremendous resistance to that, and a key question today in Tunisia is who wields moral and political authority. It's certainly not the transitional government, and there is no politician who can claim that. It will all be decided in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, the political factions are trying to rebuild themselves and expand their bases....

0935 GMT: More on the clash outside the Tunisian Prime Minister's office (see 0855 GMT)....

Police fired tear gas after protesters surged through a security picket and into the compound of Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi. Several windows in the Ministry of Finance were also broken.

0855 GMT: Police have fired tear gas at protesters, who have been throwing stones, at the "Caravan of Liberation" demonstration outside Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi's offices in Tunis (see 0730 GMT).

Schools were supposed to re-open on Monday but some are still closed because of a strike by teachers.

0830 GMT: In Yemen, a government official says that journalist and women's rights activist Tawakul Karman will be released from detention.

Karman was seized early Sunday morning, hours after she helped organise protests in the capital of Sanaa calling for the resignation of  President Ali Abdullah Saleh. 

The official said the release was arranged after Karman's family provided a pledge that "she doesn't break the law and order" by organising unlicensed protests.

0730 GMT: We begin this morning by listening to a report from Lyse Doucet on the BBC's Today programme. She explains the interesting case of justice and freedom of the press that arose yesterday with the arrest of the owner of Hannibal TV, Larbi Nasra, and the closure of the station. 

Nasra, who is close to the Leila Trabelsi, the wife of deposed President Ben Ali, is charged with treason and conspiracy against state security. However, after public protest, Hannibal TV was soon allowed to resume operations.

Doucet also takes note of the "Caravan of Liberation" protest of thousands who reached Tunis on Sunday. Despite the curfew, many remained on the streets overnight and are holding a sit-in outside the office of Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi.