c A desperate act by a young unemployed man on 17 December triggered a series of protests and clashes with the police. The man set fire to himself when officials in his town prevented him from selling vegetables on the streets of Sidi Bouzid without

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ANARCHY IN AFRICA STATEMENTS
d On 2 February, supporters of the government
surged into Tahrir Square in Cairo and violent
fighting broke out between them and the
protesters. Around 300 people were killed in
the first 10 days of clashes. On 11 February,
Egypt's Vice President Omar Suleiman announced on
Egyptian TV that President Mubarak was stepping
down. It was announced that the military would
run the country for the time being.
a Col Gaddafi has been in power for more than 40
years and is the longest-serving leader in the
Arab world. On 20th February one of his sons
appeared on TV saying his father wouldn't give up
power without a fight. He said people were
trying to copy the recent demonstrations in Egypt
and claimed that only a few had died in the
clashes between protesters and the army. Libya
is the latest country to find itself up against a
wave of anti-government protests, following the
similar demonstrations in Egypt and Tunisia.
g Huge anti-government protests have been raging
throughout Libya. Crowds of demonstrators have
been demanding that their leader, Colonel
Gaddafi, quits. Libyan troops have been accused
of opening fire on protesters in the city of
Benghazi and estimates suggest that over 230
people have died. On 20th February, protests
reached the country's capital, Tripoli
e The protests began on 25 January 2011 when
Egyptians gathered in the capital city Cairo
after an internet campaign. It was inspired by
the protests in Tunisia in the same month. The
police used water cannon and tear gas to try to
stop the protesters, and the government imposed a
curfew - an order that means everyone has to be
indoors after a certain time of day. But the
people ignored the government and even more
demonstrations happened in Cairo, Alexandria,
Suez and Ismailiya.
h But the violent response of the authorities -
with the police opening fire on demonstrators -
appears to have made people more angry and
ignited further protests. The unrest is also
seen as being about problems with the ruling
elite and the suppression of political freedoms.
The clashes became much more deadly on the
weekend of 8-9 January, and then spread to the
capital Tunis.
b It's hard to find out exactly what's going on
in Libya because officials there have put loads
of restrictions on the media and there aren't
many foreign journalists there. The violence
used by troops has been criticised by the UK,
America and other western nations.
c A desperate act by a young unemployed man on 17
December triggered a series of protests and
clashes with the police. The man set fire to
himself when officials in his town prevented him
from selling vegetables on the streets of Sidi
Bouzid without permission. This set off protests
about jobs and the rising cost of food. These
demonstrations then spread elsewhere.
i A new government has now been formed in
Tunisia, after President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali
fled the country. Some people are still angry
because several ministers from the former ruling
party have been kept in key ministerial positions.
f There are lots of other countries in that
region that also don't have democracies - that's
when the people choose the government, like here
in the UK. Their leaders might be worried about
people rising up against them in their countries,
now that Egyptians have.