Protesters, Police Clash in Flashpoint Tunisia Town

Protesters clashed with police Friday in the flashpoint town of Siliana, where violence has left hundreds wounded this week, as political instability mounts two years after Tunisia's revolution.

Thousands took to the streets of the impoverished town demanding the governor's resignation and financial aid in a fourth straight day of unrest, with the authorities battling to maintain order.

President Moncef Marzouki was due to address the situation in Siliana in a televised speech at 1900 GMT.

In a repeat of events on Thursday, protesters attacked a police station, hurling rocks and erecting barricades, with the police firing tear gas and chasing the demonstrators through the streets, Agence France Press reported.

A local representative of the UGTT, Tunisia's main trade union, which had called Friday's demonstration, urged the protesters to disperse.

"Go back home, it's dangerous. They will fire on you with live rounds," shouted Abdesattar Manai.

A "symbolic" march a few kilometers (miles) towards Tunis earlier drew a crowd of thousands, who took part on foot, in cars and on motorcycles, chanting: "With our souls and our blood we sacrifice for Siliana."

Protesters told AFP they would continue their agitation until governor Ahmed Ezzine Mahjoubi steps down, police repression ends and a development program for the region is put in place.

Precarious living conditions, widespread unemployment and police brutality were driving factors behind the revolution that toppled former strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Demonstrations took place elsewhere in support of the protesters in Siliana, notably in Tunis and Kef, west of the capital.

More than 300 people have been wounded since Tuesday when the protesters first took to the streets of Siliana, 120 kilometers (75 miles) southwest of the capital, sparking clashes with police.

On Friday, the streets of the town were littered with stones and the charred remains of barricades from previous unrest.

Residents also set up roadblocks on the highway leading to Tunis, according to AFP reporters.

"We will undertake a symbolic march to show the determination of the people against (economic) marginalization," the UGTT's regional secretary general Nejib Sebti told AFP earlier, urging the crowd to march "quietly and peacefully".

A delegation from Sidi Bouzid -- the birthplace of the revolution that toppled Ben Ali and touched off the Arab Spring -- was expected to arrive later on Friday.

"We are ready for dialogue but without the presence of the governor," Sebti added.

Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali has refused to sack Mahjoubi.

Protesters are also angry about police violence during the protests since Tuesday, with some of them treated for shotgun wounds.

"This is what the Ennahda (the ruling Islamist party) police did to me," said a man showing injuries to his legs and hips.

Jebali has promised an investigation into the violence, which he said was threatening the country's fledgling democracy as it approaches the second anniversary of the revolution triggered on December 17, 2010.

"We will investigate the possible excessive use of force and the origins of the violence," while demanding accountability from those responsible for "this catastrophe," Jebali said on Thursday.

The unrest in Siliana has paralyzed the regional economy.

"If the situation continues like this, I will have to close my factory. For three days now, the workers haven't come," said Antonio Botrel, an Italian who runs a textile plant in the region.

The violence in Siliana comes as clashes, strikes and attacks by Salafists have multiplied across Tunisia, plunging the country into a political impasse.

Much of the country's interior suffers from a chronic lack of development and has seen rising discontent over the government's failure to raise living standards.