Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki will pardon more than 1,000 prisoners on Saturday's anniversary of the fall of the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the justice ministry said.

Priority will be given to aged people and adolescents, it said Friday, adding that some other detainees will benefit from conditional release and reduced sentences.

On Saturday, Tunisians mark the culmination of their revolution, which began in December 2010 and led to the flight of Ben Ali to Saudi Arabia after 23 years of hardline rule.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and the head of Libya's National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, will take part in the events marking the revolution that began the "Arab Spring", leading to the end of dictatorial regimes in Egypt and Libya.