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Tunisia closes schools because rioting

TUNIS, Tunisia, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- The government of the North African nation of Tunisia closed schools, including universities, Tuesday in a bid to quell poverty-related rioting, officials said.

The decision to shutter the facilities by President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali came three weeks after unrest flared in the capital, Tunis, and spread elsewhere in the country, The New York Times said.

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The government said 14 people have been killed in the rioting but the Times said critics maintain the death toll is much higher.

The country has a 14 percent unemployment rate and critics allege educated young people are bearing the brunt of the joblessness.

The violence directed at the government was sparked by a 26-year-old college graduate who set himself on fire and died after police took away the vegetables he was trying to sell in a market. Officers said he didn't have a permit to run a market stall, the newspaper said.

U.S. and U.N. officials have made appeals to the government to get control of the situation without contravening human rights, the Times said.

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