ARAB UNREST

We all know about Egypt and Tunisia, where protests ultimately led to the rulers giving up power. In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak stepped down on February 11 following 18 days of massive protests. In Tunisia, President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled the country on January 14. Here are details of other major protests against authoritarian governments, rising consumer prices, poverty and high unemployment around the Middle East and North Africa:
BAHRAIN: Soldiers replaced riot police at Pearl Square, a road junction in the Bahraini capital Manama, which demonstrators had tried to turn into a protest base and which was stormed by policeon February 17. Three people were killed in the crackdown and more than 230 injured.
* Over a thousand mourners had gathered in Bahrain on February 16 to bury Fadel Matrouk, killed when police clashed with mourners at the funeral of another protester shot dead during an anti-government “Day of Rage” on February 14.
* King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, trying to defuse the tension, has said he will give 1,000 dinars ($2,650) to each family.
LIBYA: Hundreds of supporters of leader Muammar Gaddafi rallied on February 17, but witnesses reported unrest in several locations. There were clashes on that day in Al Bayda, near Libya’s second city Benghazi, between government supporters and relatives of two men killed during an earlier protest.
* The riot, in the early hours of February 16 in Benghazi, was triggered by the arrest of human rights activist Fethi Tarbel, who had worked to free political prisoners, Quryna newspaper said.
* Activists had designated February 17 as a day of protests as it is the anniversary of clashes in 2006 in Benghazi when security forces killed protesters attacking the city’s Italian consulate.
YEMEN: Fierce fighting between protesters and government loyalists left at least 40 wounded on February 17, the seventh day of demonstrations demanding an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 32-year rule.
* Protests spread on February 16, with hundreds of people taking to the streets of Sanaa, the capital, Aden and Taiz.
* The opposition has agreed to enter talks with Saleh, who is keen to avert an Egyptian-style revolt. He said he would step down in 2013 and pledged his son will not take over.
ALGERIA: Thousands of police in riot gear blocked off the centre of Algeria’s capital on February 12 and stopped government opponents from staging a protest march that sought to emulate Egypt’s revolt. They have said they will demonstrate every Saturday until democratic change is introduced.
* President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, seeking to prevent opposition calls for protests from building momentum, has promised more democratic freedoms and ordered new job-creation measures. Algeria said on February 16 that it would lift a state of emergency, in force for 19 years, by the end of the month.
IRAQ: On February 16, around 2,000 people took to the streets in Kut, 150 km southeast of Baghdad, throwing stones at Iraqi security forces. Some voiced anger at Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, echoing anti-government rallies in other parts of the Arab world.
* Three people were killed and dozens wounded when the protesters, demanding better services, clashed with police and set fire to government buildings.
IRAN: Supporters and opponents of the government clashed on February 16 at a funeral for a student shot dead during February 14’s banned opposition rally.
* State TV showed thousands of government supporters at Tehran University for the funeral of Sanee Zhaleh, one of two people shot dead on February 14. Each side blames the other for the killing and claims the victim as one of their own supporters.
* An opposition website said at least 1,500 were arrested while taking part in the banned protests.
* A large majority of Iranian lawmakers signed a motion for two opposition leaders to be tried, calling them “corrupts on earth”. The term “corrupt on earth” is a charge which has been levelled at political dissidents. It is a capital offence.
JORDAN: King Abdullah swore in a new government on February 9, led by a former general who promised to widen public freedoms in response to anti-government protests.