Tunisian presidential pardon for detainees

A Tunisian official source said that Tunisian President Zein al-Abidin Bin Ali on Thursday pardoned "certain detainees," who were sentenced in "public right" matters on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of assuming his office on November 7, 1987.

The source added that many of these prisoners will be freed before the end of their prison sentences, while others' prison terms will be cut short.

However, it was not possible to obtain any information on the strong rumors prevailing in the Tunisian opposition in exile, especially in France, that the "Tunisian authorities study each pardoning case separately concerning opposition members who apply for pardons."

A Tunisian opposition group called for the pardon to be "general."