Now that's what you call looting
Now that's what you call looting: Tunisians steal ousted president's £125,000 Ferrari using a FORKLIFT TRUCK
While most looters resort to taking home whatever they can carry in their arms, these Tunisian thieves employed a slightly more enterprising approach… using a forklift truck.
They used the industrial vehicle to pick up one of ousted former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's Ferraris from its parking space and then simply drove off with the supercar dangling from the forks.
One looter riding in the JCB was seen grinning as he sped along a highway in the capital Tunis with the 599 GBB Fiorano, which cost £125,000 when new four years ago.
Leila Trabelsi. the former president's wife, was known for her love of fast cars - the family had more than 50 - and widely despised as the ultimate symbol of corruption and excess.
Dubbed ‘the Imelda Marcos of the Arab world’ the former hairdresser, 53, was also known for her luxury homes and frequent shopping trips to Dubai, during which she is said to have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Scroll down for video reports
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/01/1385.jpg Easy picking: A looter in a JCB forklift truck drives off with a Ferrari belonging to Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/01/1386.jpg Thumbs up: Thieves in the truck's cab show their delight at taking the supercar in Tunisian capital Tunis
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/01/1387.jpg Finders, keepers: The thieves thought nothing of driving down the road with the Ferrari in broad daylight
Since Mr Ben Ali fled the country and went into exile in Saudi Arabia at the weekend, fierce riots have continued.
But today the huge street gatherings were much calmer, with protesters seen kissing soldiers and hanging flowers from their tanks.
The new government, led by Interim President Fouad Mbazaa, is distancing itself from the former regime and has begun releasing 1,800 prisoners.
It also moved to track down assets Mr Ben Ali and his widely disliked family had stashed overseas.
They include £35million worth of gold bullion smuggled out of the Mediterranean tourists haven by his wife Leila Ben Ali.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/01/1388.jpg Damage: One of the burned out seaside mansions owned by Mr Ben Ali that have been looted
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/01/1389.jpg Mark of anger: Rioters have travellied around Tunisia stealing and destroying Mr Ben Ali's possessions
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/01/1390.jpg
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/01/1391.jpg
Hated: President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (left) and wife Leila have fled to Saudi Arabia with millions of pounds
It is also estimated that Tunisian government officials have put about £388million into secret Swiss bank accounts.
Mr Mebazaa went on television and promised to live up to the people's revolt, which he called a ‘revolution’.
‘Regarding security, you have certainly noticed that it has improved,’ he said.
‘We have discovered the leaders of the chaos, and have stopped the gangs and those who put fear in the hearts of people. The situation is moving toward stability.’
Despite the ending of Mr Ben Ali’s 23-year-old regime, protesters are staying on the streets to demand that his former allies give up power.
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/01/1392.jpg From riot to love-in: Protesters kiss soldiers during a demonstration in capital Tunis today
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/01/1393.jpg Symbol of peace: Flowers placed on the barrel of a tank in very much calmer protests than in recent days
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/01/1394.jpg United: Protesters and soldiers hold hands as the new government attempts to encourage good will
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/01/1395.jpg Peaceful: A protester with a flower in his hand puts his arm around a policeman's shoulder
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/01/1396.jpg Call for change: Demonstrators are demanding all of Mr Ben Ali's allies leave the government
Mr Ben Ali's long-time prime minister, Mohamed Ghannouchi, kept his post and is trying to convince Tunisians a new era has arrived - even if the composition of the interim government has many faces from the old guard.
But many Tunisians are doubtful about such promises of change.
Hafed al Maki, 50, who works at the country's largest insurance company, said he would not wait for the 60-day constitutional limit for new presidential elections to pass ‘because that is enough time for the old cronies to set their roots in and start their old ways again, thieving and taking our resources. No way that's happening again.’
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/01/1397.jpg
https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2011/01/1398.jpg
Fears: An armed guard outside the first cabinet meeting attended by Interim President Fouad Mebazaa (right)
Opposition figures and the prime minister's office have said the 60-day limit is unrealistically short, and the delay is more likely to be six to seven months.
Today the United Nations' human rights chief, Navi Pillay, said she would be sending an ‘assessment team’ to Tunisia.
He estimated that more than 100 deaths have occurred so far during the unrest in the moderate Muslim state.
Tunis's stock exchange, many shops, schools and universities remained closed and some workers have gone on strike.
A curfew remains in place, though the government shortened it as security improved.
