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Tunisia Sparks Anti-Government Protests Around Africa

Christine Detz |
February 3, 2011 | 11:43 a.m. PST

Associate News Editor

Map of Africa Courtesy Creative Commons
Map of Africa Courtesy Creative Commons
Inspired by anti-government protests in Tunisia that brought down the North African country’s president, Egyptians took to the streets demanding reform.  More than a week later the Egyptian protests continue and now similar protests are sprouting up around the continent.  Here is a list of the countries affected:

• Yemen – Protestors calling for the end of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 32 year rule where met in Sanaa by groups of Saleh supporters in the capital city of Sanaa on Thursday.  So far the demonstrations have remained peaceful.

• Syria – Word is spreading through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter about a protest in front of Parliament on Friday.  The Syrian government blocks both of these sites, but Syrians have been able to access them through the use of proxy servers.

• Jordan – King Abdullah, hoping to avoid an Egypt-style protest, dismissed the government and called for reform earlier in the week.  Opposition groups are not happy with the man charged with creating the reforms, former Prime Minister Maruf Bahkit, and protests are planned for Friday.

• Algeria – Groups are planning to stage an anti-government protest on Feb. 12.  President Abdelaziz Bouteflika issued warnings against a mass demonstration. 

 

• Sudan – Like in Syria, Facebook is being used to amass groups of students to protest decades of oppressive rule by President Omar al-Bashir.  Human Rights Watch reports these protests ended after authorities used violence to quell the peaceful demonstrations.

• Zimbabwe – The Associated Press is reporting that three people were hurt when supporters of President Robert Mugabe clashed with supporters of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangarai in Harare on Wednesday “gravely injuring” three Tsvangarai supporters.

 

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