A passenger jet of Russian airline Transaero flew on Sunday morning to Tunisia to evacuate Russian tourists from the riot-hit North African country.
Tunisia locked down its air space after President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled amid protests that turned violent on Friday. The ousted president was reported to have fled to Saudi Arabia after France denied him political asylum. Passenger air corridors in three of the country's largest cities were reopened on Saturday.
"A 235-seat Boeing767 airliner will evacuate 192 Russian tourists who arrived in Tunisia aboard Transaero passenger jets, and also 27 tourists who arrived in Tunisia on their own and had registered for the flight. For the remaining seats, Transaero will organize air ticket sale directly at Monastir airport," the airline said.
The Transaero plane will arrive in Tunisia four hours after it took off from Moscow's Domodedovo airport at 11:43 a.m. Moscow time on Sunday and will fly back to Moscow after its maintenance, the airline said.
Russia's Tourism and Sports Ministry announced on Saturday that all Russian tourists located in Tunisia will be evacuated on Sunday on a Transaero charter flight out of Moscow.
Tunisian Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi took over as Tunisia's interim leader on Friday, saying the president was incapable of fulfilling his duties. On Saturday Tunisia's parliamentary speaker Fouad Mebazaa was sworn in as interim president. The country's armed forces entered the capital Tunis and took up key positions around the city, including the presidential palace, ministries and the international airport.
Tunisia plunged into chaos in mid-December, when thousands of people took to the streets to protest the state's economic policies. The violence was sparked when a peddler tried to commit suicide by setting fire to himself after the authorities banned him from selling vegetables in the street without permission.
Riots continued on Friday even after the president dismissed the government and announced early elections. Protestors demanded the immediate resignation of the president, who has been in power since 1987.
MOSCOW, January 16 (RIA Novosti)
