http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/15/arab.region.unrest/index.html#


 
CNN.com         
 
Unrest in the Middle East and North Africa -- country by country

(CNN) -- Unrest has spread across the Middle East and North Africa. Here's a 
look at what has happened -- and what is happening -- in various countries:

Wednesday developments:

BAHRAIN

Bahrain's Interior Ministry said those involved in the deaths of two people 
during recent protests have been taken into custody. Also Wednesday, thousands 
of people gathered for a peaceful funeral procession for a Bahraini man killed 
when clashes erupted during another protester's funeral procession, the 
president of a human rights group said. The king of the small Gulf nation 
addressed his country on national television Tuesday, promising changes in the 
law after the deaths.

Protesters initially demanded reform and the introduction of a constitutional 
monarchy. But some are now calling for the removal of the royal family.

EGYPT

Protests continued Wednesday as Egypt's military moves forward with a plan to 
enact constitutional reforms. Military personnel dispersed about 200 protesters 
outside a welding factory between Cairo and Alexandria, state media reported. 
The protesters were demanding better pay, more compensation for working longer 
hours and better treatment from management. Meanwhile, the military has formed 
"an apolitical and independent constitutional committee to propose 
constitutional reforms within 10 days, according to activist Wael Ghonim. 
Schools and universities will remain closed for another week, state television 
reported. Banks and the stock market are also closed.

IRAN

Thousands of people, many of them Iranian government supporters, turned up in 
Tehran on Wednesday for the funeral of a man killed in anti-government 
protests. The gathering near Tehran University comes amid tension in the nation 
following a crackdown on anti-government protests. Government officials said 
26-year-old Sana Jaleh was shot to death Monday by members of an outlawed group 
called the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran. The group, which is also 
known as the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization, has opposed the Iranian government 
for decades. Iranian lawmakers on Tuesday called for the execution of key 
opposition leaders. On Monday, tens of thousands of pro- and anti-government 
protesters marched in downtown Tehran.

IRAQ

A least one person was shot and killed and 32 others were wounded Wednesday 
when private security guards and Iraqi security forces opened fire on hundreds 
of demonstrators outside the governor's office in Kut, about 63 miles (110 
kilometers) south of Baghdad, health officials said. Police in Kut said that 
more than 1,000 demonstrators were demanding the resignation of the Wasit 
provincial governor Latif Hamed, accusing him of corruption. Dozens of 
protesters stormed the governor's office after the shooting, destroyed 
furniture and then set the building on fire. Another group of demonstrators 
went to the governor's house and set it on fire too. Thousands of people have 
rallied this month in cities across the country, protesting rampant poverty, a 
45% national unemployment rate and shortages of food, electricity and water.

LIBYA

Libyan police clashed with protesters chanting anti-government slogans and 
demanding the release of a human rights activist early Wednesday, an 
independent source in the country told CNN. About 150 to 200 protesters in the 
coastal city of Benghazi were supporting human rights activist and lawyer Fathi 
Terbil, who was detained earlier, the source said. Several people were arrested 
after police confronted the protesters, the source said. A highly-placed Libyan 
source who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to 
the media said "there is nothing serious here" and characterized the incidents 
as "not political" and "just young people fighting each other." "Libya is not 
Egypt," he said.

TUNISIA

A government-imposed curfew in Tunisia has been lifted, but a state of 
emergency remains in effect, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday, as reported by 
the state-run Tunis Afrique Presse. The curfew was from midnight until 4 a.m., 
and the state of emergency was put into place on January 14. After weeks of 
demonstrations that started in December, longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben 
Ali fled the country.

YEMEN

Protests took place for a sixth day in Aden, with eyewitnesses reporting one 
person was shot and killed when security forces tried to break up Wednesday's 
protest. Hospital officials had no immediate confirmation of the fatality.

In the capital, Sanaa, a demonstration for campus reforms at Sanaa University 
turned into an anti-government rally, and pro-government demonstrators showed 
up and began throwing rocks. Three students walking home after the rally were 
beaten by pro-government protesters, a Yemeni human rights activist told CNN.

Previous developments:

ALGERIA

Authorities in Algeria said Monday that they would lift a 20-year state of 
emergency in the "coming days," but it had not been canceled as of Tuesday. 
They acted after anti-government protesters chanting "Change the power!" 
clashed with security forces in the capital over the weekend, witnesses said. 
The state of emergency was imposed in 1992 to quell a civil war that led to the 
deaths of what U.S. officials estimate to be more than 150,000 people. About 
100 protesters were arrested during the protests in Algiers on Saturday, 
according to the opposition Algerian League for Human Rights.

JORDAN

King Abdullah II swore in a new government last week following anti-government 
protests in his country. The new government has a mandate for political reform 
and is headed by a former general, with several opposition and media figures 
among its ranks. The appointment of Marouf al-Bakhit as the new prime minister 
was seen as an attempt to shore up support among Jordan's Bedouin tribes -- the 
bedrock of the monarchy. Jordan's economy has been hard-hit by the global 
economic downturn and rising commodity prices, and youth unemployment is high, 
as it is in Egypt. Officials close to the palace have told CNN that Abdullah is 
trying to turn a regional upheaval into an opportunity for reform.

PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's Cabinet submitted its resignations to Palestinian 
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, days after the announcement the 
legislative and parliamentary elections will be held before September. The 
Palestinian Territories have not seen the kind of demonstrations as in many 
Arab countries, but the government has been under criticism since Al-Jazeera 
published secret papers claiming to reveal some of the wide-ranging concessions 
Palestinian officials were prepared to make in negotiations with Israel. 
Negotiations have collapsed. Abbas' Palestinian Authority holds sway only over 
the West Bank. The militant Islamist movement Hamas controls Gaza.

SUDAN

Demonstrators have clashed with authorities on several recent occasions in 
Sudan. Human Rights Watch has said that "authorities used excessive force 
during largely peaceful protests on January 30 and 31 in Khartoum and other 
northern cities to call for an end to the National Congress Party rule and 
government-imposed price increases." Witnesses said that security forces used 
pipes, sticks and tear gas to disperse protesters and that several people were 
arrested, including 20 who remain missing. The Sudanese Embassy said that 
people in Sudan have the right to "demonstrate as they wish" but that "some 
opportunists capitalize" on incidents "to inspire chaos or smear Sudan's image."

SYRIA

As protests heated up around the region, the Syrian government pulled back from 
a plan to withdraw some subsidies that keep the cost of living down in the 
country. President Bashar al-Assad also gave a rare interview to Western media, 
telling The Wall Street Journal for a January 31 article that he planned 
reforms that would allow for local elections and included a new media law and 
more power for private organizations. A planned "Day of Rage" that was being 
organized on Facebook for February 5 failed to materialize, The New York Times 
reported.
 
 
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