Tunisian President pelted with stones

A disgruntled crowd hurled stones at President Moncef Marzouki and the parliament speaker in a central Tunisian town, a media report said Tuesday.

The incident occurred when the president and parliament speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar arrived in Sidi Bouzid town, the cradle of the revolution that erupted in Tunisia two years ago, to address people on the anniversary of the uprising, Al Jazeera reported.

The violence started as President Marzouki finished his speech and Jaafar was preparing for his address. A crowd of some 5,000 people, who had gathered for the arrival of the president, began throwing stones at them shouting: "Get Out! Get Out!"

"I understand this legitimate anger. But the government has diagnosed the problem. In six months, a stable government will be in place and will provide the remedy to heal the country's problems," Marzouki told the gathering.

Even two years after the revolution and the ouster of former President Zine El Abedine Ben Ali, Tunisians are unhappy that living conditions have not improved since then.

Protests swept Tunisia in mid-December of 2010, forcing Ben Ali, who ruled the country for 23 years, to flee to Saudi Arabia.

Tunisians took to the streets again in late February, forcing prime minister Mohammed Ghannouchi to resign. The uprising later set off protests around the Arab world.