TUNIS, Tunisia, July 20 (UPI) -- Tunisia is at the front line of emerging democracies in the region and deserves the full support of the international community, a U.N. official said in Tunis.
A December protest suicide sparked the so-called Jasmine Revolution that brought an end to the regime of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali after more than 23 years in power. The revolution in Tunisia inspired similar protests in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa.
B. Lynn Pascoe, the U.N. undersecretary-general for political affairs, told reporters in Tunis after concluding a four-day visit to the region that the world body has election experts on hand to help the country with its democratic transition.
"Tunisia is the vanguard of democratic transition in North Africa and the Middle East and thus it is in all of our interest to help it succeed," he said in a statement.
Members of the Group of Eight industrialized nations at a French summit in May agreed to generous development funds to help countries like Tunisia with political transition.
Interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Sebsi said elections planned for June were rescheduled for October because of technical delays.
Demonstrators last week expressed frustration with the interim prime minister, calling on him to step down.
Meanwhile, protests erupted in the central city of Sidi Bouzid early this week, the site of the first clashes in the revolution. Six officers were injured during clashes with extremists north of Tunis.
