A surge of anger in the streets over police repression and poverty swept Tunisia's veteran strongman leader from power today, sending a chill through unpopular authoritarian governments across the Arab world.
President Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali stepped aside after more than two decades in power and looked to have flown to France, the former colonial power. However, president Nicolas Sarkozy has refused to allow him permission to enter the country, French media said, citing government sources.
Mr Ben Ali's prime minister told Tunisians he would steer the state until early elections. There was calm on the streets of Tunis under heavy security, but some analysts questioned whether the change of face at the top would satisfy the protesters.
After days of unrest that spread from provincial towns to the capital, leaving dozens dead as security forces struggled to contain angry young demonstrators, the government declared a state of emergency and imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
The violence and rapid turn of events sent shockwaves across the Arab world, where similar authoritarian rulers are deeply entrenched, but face mounting pressures from growing young populations, economic hardship and the appeal of militant Islam.
The United States led international calls for calm and for the people of Tunisia to be given a free choice of leaders. But Western powers have long turned a blind eye to rulers in the region who provide a bulwark against Islamist radicals.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy said: "Only dialogue can bring a democratic and lasting solution to the current crisis."
A police source in France said police had been told to await Mr Ben Ali's arrival at an airport near Paris late today but the Foreign Ministry did not confirm this.
Occasional gunfire could be heard in Tunis but there was no evidence of new protests after the announcement on state television by prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi that he would act as president until elections could be held.
Some Tunisians were unsatisfied by his taking charge. Fadhel Bel Taher, brother of a man who was killed in the protests, told al Jazeera television that protests would soon resume. "Tomorrow we will be back in the streets, in Martyrs Square, to
continue this civil disobedience until ... the regime is gone," he said.
Some, however, were in a more jubilant mood. In the town of Menzel Bouzaiane, south of Tunis, about 5,000 people gathered in the streets to celebrate Mr Ben Ali's apparent departure said local trade union activist Mohamed Fadhel.
It remained uncertain how far those around Mr Ben Ali, only the second president Tunisia has had since independence from France, were ready to relinquish power to opposition groups.
"Since the president is temporarily unable to exercise his duties, it has been decided that the prime minister will exercise temporarily the duties," Mr Ghannouchi said.
"I call on the sons and daughters of Tunisia, of all political and intellectual persuasions, to unite to allow our beloved country to overcome this difficult period and to return to stability."
The latest unrest was sparked when police prevented an unemployed graduate from selling fruit without a licence and he set fire to himself, dying shortly afterwards of his burns.
"Perhaps all the Arab governments are monitoring with eyes wide open what is happening in Tunisia," columnist Abdelrahman al-Rashed wrote in regional newspaper Asharq al-Awsat.
"Much of what prevents protest and civil disobedience is simply the psychological barrier," he said in an article after Mr Ben Ali had made sweeping concessions but before he quit. "But the psychological barrier is broken."
In power since 1987, Mr Ben Ali had declared a state of emergency earlier today and said protesters would be shot in an increasingly violent confrontation. He had also dismissed the government and called an early parliamentary election.
As the violence escalated, police fired tear gas to disperse crowds in central Tunis demanding his immediate resignation. They were not satisfied with his promise yesterday to step down, but only at the end of his current term in 2014.
Opposition leader Najib Chebbi, one of Mr Ben Ali's most outspoken critics, described the events as a "regime change".
"This is a crucial moment. There is a change of regime under way. Now it's the succession," he told France's I-Tele TV.
"It must lead to profound reforms, to reform the law and let the people choose."
The White House said Tunisians should have the right to choose their own leader. It was monitoring developments in Tunisia and called on authorities there to respect human rights.
"We condemn the ongoing violence against civilians in Tunisia, and call on the Tunisian authorities to fulfil the important commitments ... including respect for basic human rights and a process of much-needed political reform," White House spokesman Mike Hammer said in a statement.
Western countries urged their people to avoid travel to the popular tourist destination due to the instability.
Medical sources and a witness said 12 people died in overnight clashes in Tunis and the northeastern town of Ras Jebel. Before the latest casualties, the official death toll in almost a month of violence was 23. The Paris-based International
Federation for Human Rights said it had a list of at least 66 people killed.
After police fired tear gas and wielded their truncheons, crowds of youths retreated a little way from the building and started throwing stones at the police, who responded with more tear gas grenades. Reporters also heard gunfire nearby.
A Reuters photographer saw people looting two big supermarkets in the Tunis suburb of Enkhilet, about 10km from the capital. He said they had set fire to the local police station.
On almost every block in suburban Tunis, people were standing on the street with baseball bats to protect their cars and homes from damage by looters, reporters said.
Reuters