Police arrested 22-year-old Hamada Ben-Amor late Thursday in the
Mediterranean Sea coast city of Sfax, Hamdi Ben-Amor told Reuters. "Some
30 plainclothes policemen came to our house to arrest Hamada and took him away
without ever telling us where to. When we asked why they were arresting him,
they said 'he knows why,'" he said.
Ben-Amor is known to fans as The
General. Last week he released a song on the Internet titled 'President, your
people are dying' that talks about the problems of the youth and unemployment.
The song came out as students, professionals and youths mounted a series of
protests over a shortage of jobs and restrictions on public freedoms.
The protests
have grown into the most widespread and violent flare-up of dissent of Ben
Ali's 23-year rule. Tunisian authorities on Thursday also arrested Aziz Amami,
a well-known blogger, opposition militant Sofiene Chourabi said.
