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Protests after a desperate unemployed graduate’s suicide ousted the Ben Ali regime and may change regional politics

The arrest of 33 members of the former ruling family less than a week after the overthrow of President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali on 13 January consolidates the change of regime. It seems to have been underwritten by the army, which had sided with the opposition against the President’s security apparatus and national police. Ben Ali’s enforced flight into exile, just a month after the opposition went on to the streets, sends a powerful message to authoritarian regimes across Africa and the Middle East facing economic and political pressures....

(This article contains approximately 1153 words)

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Keywords:

Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, Slim Amamou, Mohamed Bouzizi, Leila Trabelsi, United States, Sakher el Materi, Mohamed el Ghannouchi, Rachid Ghannouchi returns, Rachid Ghannouchi, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Rachid Ammar, Ahmed Friaa, Ridha Grira, Nejib Chebbi, Ahmed Brahim, Ali Seriati, Taoufik Baccar, Mustapha Kamel Nabli, Habib Bourguiba, Turkey, Moammar el Gadaffi, France, Morocco, Jordan, Yemen, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Ali Belhadj, Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Gamal Mubarak, zaïm, Rassemblement constitutionnel démocratique, Hizb Ennahda, Ennahda, Parti démocratique progressiste, Ettajdid, Débenalisation, Banque centrale de Tunisie, Ad Destour, Néo-Destour, Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, Front Islamique du Salut