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Fifteen years person passed since Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old Tunisian thoroughfare vendor whose cart was confiscated by the police, acceptable himself connected occurrence to protestation against constabulary harassment and the authorities’ neglect.
His enactment of desperation triggered nationwide protests by millions facing a crushing world of accrued unemployment, corruption, and a decades-old governmental strategy with small country for look oregon change.
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- list 3 of 3Interactive: The younker of the Arab Spring
In 28 days, demonstrators brought down President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had been successful powerfulness for 23 years.
Inspired by Tunisia’s uprising, millions of radical from Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Syria took to the streets successful 2011.
This movement, which became known arsenic the Arab Spring, led to the toppling of 5 longtime leaders. Al Jazeera looks backmost astatine what happened to those leaders.
Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
- 1936-2019
- In power: 1987-2011 (23 years)
- Status: Died successful exile
(Al Jazeera)Zine El Abidine Ben Ali came to powerfulness successful 1987 when, arsenic premier minister, helium declared President-for-life Habib Bourguiba medically unfit to rule.
In office, the erstwhile information main worked to repress immoderate challenges to his regularisation and installed a rigid strategy anchored successful information services and a loyal governing party.
He opened up the economy, starring to economical growth, but the state was mired successful deepening corruption, inequality, and media censorship, sparking nationalist outrage and anger.
Grievances, including implicit constabulary abuse, younker joblessness, and entrenched corruption, erupted aft the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi connected December 17, 2010.
After astir a period of nonstop demonstrations, connected January 14, Ben Ali dissolved the government, declared a authorities of exigency and fled to Saudi Arabia.
A Tunisian tribunal aboriginal sentenced him successful absentia to beingness imprisonment, which helium did not serve. Eight years later, connected September 19, 2019, Ben Ali died successful exile successful Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, astatine the property of 83.
Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak
- 1928-2020
- In power: 1981-2011 (30 years)
- Status: Died successful Egypt (after release)
(Al Jazeera)Hosni Mubarak became Egypt’s president successful 1981 aft Anwar Sadat’s assassination.
The erstwhile aerial unit commandant consolidated powerfulness done a premix of subject dominance and exigency laws, maintaining tight-fisted regularisation marked by crackdowns connected dissent, constricted governmental freedoms, and wide corruption.
On January 25, 2011, acceptable to coincide with the yearly solemnisation of the Egyptian police, protesters from crossed the Arab world’s astir populous country, driven by precocious unemployment, poverty, and governmental repression, marched done the streets, demanding Mubarak’s departure.
On February 11, 2011, aft 18 days of protests, Mubarak was forced to resign, ending a three-decade presidency.
Mubarak was ordered to basal proceedings and was aboriginal sentenced to beingness imprisonment for complicity successful sidesplitting peaceful protesters during the revolution.
However, this condemnation was overturned by the country’s precocious court, and a retrial was ordered. While that retrial was pending, helium was convicted connected corruption charges and spent six years successful detention, though owed to his wellness and the shifting governmental landscape, precise small of that clip successful a situation cell.
In 2017, helium was acquitted and released. On February 25, 2020, Mubarak died successful Cairo astatine the property of 91.
Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh
- 1947-2017
- In power: 1978-2012 (33 years)
- Status: Killed by Houthis
(Al Jazeera)Ali Abdullah Saleh was Yemen’s longtime strongman who ruled for 33 years, archetypal arsenic president of North Yemen from 1978, past of a unified Yemen from 1990.
Saleh was known to beryllium a mastermind of tribal and subject politics, erstwhile describing governing Yemen arsenic “dancing connected the heads of snakes”, wherever helium leveraged shifting alliances successful the region.
Following the Arab Spring protests successful 2011, Saleh was forced to measurement down nether a power-transfer statement successful 2012.
However, helium soon forged a astonishing confederation with his erstwhile enemies, the Houthis, helping them prehend the capital, Sanaa, successful 2014.
The pact collapsed successful 2017, erstwhile helium broke with the Houthis to question a woody with the Saudi-led conjugation warring them. He was killed astatine the property of 75 by Houthi forces.
Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi
- 1942-2011
- In power: 1969-2011 (42 years)
- Status: Killed by rebels
(Al Jazeera)Muammar Gaddafi was an service serviceman who seized powerfulness successful a 1969 coup, dismantling Libya’s monarchy and aboriginal promoting himself to the fertile of colonel, which helium held for the remainder of his life.
Gaddafi built a highly personalised, restrictive system, governing done revolutionary committees alternatively than ceremonial institutions, and maintaining power via the strategical usage of Libya’s immense lipid wealth.
Though helium was internationally isolated for decades, helium aboriginal re-engaged with Western states successful the aboriginal 2000s aft renouncing his nuclear, chemic and biologic weapons programme.
On February 15, 2011, protests erupted successful Benghazi aft a quality rights lawyer was arrested. Like different Arab Spring countries, the incidental was a catalyst; however, Gaddafi’s convulsive crackdown escalated the peaceful demonstrations into a full-scale equipped uprising and civilian war.
By August 2011, equipped absorption forces captured Tripoli, marking the opening of the extremity for the regime. A NATO aerial run and high-level interior defections proved decisive, tipping the equilibrium against Gaddafi.
After retreating to his hometown of Sirte, Gaddafi was captured and killed by rebel forces connected October 20, 2011, ending his 42 years successful power.
Syria’s Bashar Al-Assad
- 1965-present
- In power: 2000-2024 (24 years)
- Status: Ousted, successful exile
(Al Jazeera)Bashar al-Assad came to powerfulness successful 2000 astatine property 34, pursuing a peculiar law amendment that lowered the statesmanlike minimum property conscionable hours aft his father’s death.
His father, Hafez al-Assad, was a subject serviceman who seized powerfulness successful a 1970 coup and ruled Syria for 29 years, establishing a centralised, tightly controlled authorities that Bashar would spell connected to pb for 24 years.
The Syrian gyration was sparked by a few teens who wrote anti-government graffiti connected the walls of their schoolhouse successful Deraa. This enactment of dissent led to protests that dispersed crossed the nation, which drew a brutal crackdown from authorities forces and yet ignited a civilian war.
The warfare drew successful planetary powers including Russia, Iran, Turkiye, and the United States, and lasted for astir 14 years, making it 1 of the longest successful the region. It displaced much than fractional of the country’s colonisation and created a important exile crisis.
On December 8, 2024, the Assad family’s 53-year regularisation came to an end.
Following a lightning violative spearheaded by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported by respective different rebel factions, the Syrian subject collapsed successful a substance of days.
As rebel forces entered Damascus, Bashar al-Assad and his household fled the state by level to Moscow, wherever they were granted asylum and presently unrecorded successful exile.
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