Rocks, insults on Tunisian uprising anniversary

PARIS - France 24

Young demonstrators protest against the visit of Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, Monday, Dec.17, 2012, in Sidi Bouzid, south Tunisia, the birthplace of the country's recent revolution. AP photo

Exactly two years after a harassed young fruit vendor in the provincial Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid set himself alight, sparking the Arab Spring, Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki was heckled Monday during a wreath-laying ceremony at the tomb of Tunisia’s best-known martyr.

"You came a year ago and you promised things would change in six months, but nothing has changed,” shouted one protester.

"We do not want you here," added another.

Hours later, when the Tunisian president had just finished delivering an address in the town’s main square square, rocks were hurled at the podium just as parliamentary speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar was about to speak.

Security forces swiftly evacuated the two politicians to a regional government headquarters, according to an AFP journalist, and there were no reports of injuries.