More News: Arab activists hope Tunisia uprising brings change?

[Slayex]

CAIRO -- Arab activists celebrated the anti-government protests that ousted Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on Friday as the uprising raised hopes for similar change in other countries accused of having repressive regimes.

Thousands of messages congratulating the Tunisian people flooded the Internet on Twitter, Facebook and blogs, and many people replaced their profile pictures with red Tunisian flags.

Dozens of Egyptian activists opposed to President Hosni Mubarak's three-decade regime danced outside the Tunisian Embassy in Cairo, chanting "Ben Ali, tell Mubarak a plane is waiting for him too!"

Mubarak, 82, faces mounting dissatisfaction over the lack of democratic reform and frequent protests over economic woes in the country, a key U.S. ally.

Egyptian human rights activist Hossam Bahgat said he was glued to the news watching the fall of the Tunisian government and hoped that his countrymen could do the same someday.

"I feel like we are a giant step closer to our own liberation," he told The Associated Press. "What's significant about Tunisia is that literally days ago the regime seemed unshakable, and then eventually democracy prevailed without a single Western state lifting a finger."

Bahgat said the events in Tunisia would boost the confidence of opposition members in a region where leaders often rule for life.

"What happened in Tunisia ... will give unimaginable momentum to the cause for change in Egypt," he said.



Sudanese opposition leader Mariam al-Sadek said she had mixed feelings about the Tunisian riots: excitement the president was overthrown but sadness that her people haven't done the same.

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted on an international indictment for war crimes in the western region of Darfur, also faces division of his country after a vote for southern independence, a rebellion in the north and east, and internal rebellion.

"What caused this in Tunisia is so little compared to what we are going through," al-Sadek said. "Our country is being divided; our sovereignty is lost and we are humiliated, and this is happening in Tunisia ... I feel ashamed."

Jordanians also held separate protests Friday in several cities over rising prices for fuel and foodstuffs, although King Abdullah II slashed some prices and taxes earlier this week to try to stanch the public anger and ease the burden on the poor.

About 200 people, some wearing Tunisian flags as capes, huddled together on Paris' Place des Invalides after being directed away from the nearby Tunisian Embassy.

French police closed off the street where the embassy was located to foot and car traffic.

Haitham Nasri, a 21 year-old university student from southern Sfax, Tunisia who has lived in Paris for two years, said Friday was a day of celebration but warned the mobilization could continue.

"It's like halftime in an important football match, when the home team is up 1-0. We're happy with our performance so far but are regrouping for the second half. We've won the battle but not the war yet," said Nasri, who was wrapped in the red-and-white Tunisian flag.

[67]

sultan....ana wa2t elgad ana ma3rafaksh,,
tab3an ya 3am a3ed barra teshtem 3ala mazagak e7na ellli hena!!!!!

[~SoL]

no offence
bla bla bla xD
Nothing is going to happen in Egypt..
sorry for being your dream killer..
We have this emmm "Skill" of going mad yet 5 mins later we are fine
like srsly who still talks about the last elections
NO ONE !!
Bo2 3al Fadi !!
yes we are
sadly..

[El Alex]

Allahu Akbar
You don't know how happy I am for Tunisia
Inchallah Inchallah Egypt, and the rest of the Arab countries are next!

[Black]

Tunisia, officially the Tunisian Republic, is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area is almost 165,000 square kilometres (64,000 sq mi), with an estimated population of just over 10.3 million. Its name is derived from the capital Tunis located in the north-east.

Tunisia is the smallest of the nations situated along the Atlas mountain range. The south of the country is composed of the Sahara desert, with much of the remainder consisting of particularly fertile soil and 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) of coastline. Both played a prominent role in ancient times, first with the famous Phoenician city of Carthage, then as the Roman province of Africa which was known as the "bread basket" of Rome. Later, Tunisia was occupied by Vandals during the 5th century AD, Byzantines in the 6th century, and Arabs in the 8th century. Under the Ottoman Empire, Tunisia was known as "Regency of Tunis". It passed under French protectorate in 1881. After obtaining independence in 1956 the country took the official name of the "Kingdom of Tunisia" at the end of the reign of Lamine Bey and the Husainid Dynasty. With the proclamation of the Tunisian republic on July 25, 1957, the nationalist leader Habib Bourguiba became its first president and led the modernization of the country.

The country nominally operated as a republic under the authoritarian regime of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who governed from 1987 to 2011 before fleeing following wide-ranging protests, nicknamed the Jasmine Revolution after the national flower name. Tunisa, an export-oriented country in the process of liberalizing and privatizing an economy that has averaged 5% GDP growth since the early 1990s, had suffered corruption benefiting the former president's family.

Tunisia has close relations with both the European Union — with whom it has an association agreement — and the Arab world. Tunisia is also a member of the Arab League and the African Union. Tunisia has built favourable relations with the European Union, and with France in particular, through economic cooperation, industry modernization, and privatisation programs. The government's moderate and even-handed approach to the Israel-Palestine conflict has also made it an important intermediary in Middle Eastern diplomacy.

[G. #2]

They had riots in Algeria too..

Ahh, check this --> http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...046AAKmr8X You might find it interesting..

[Schoklo]

Dont get your hopes up son.

Look in Tunisia after all that chaos, they have removed one man, he represents all their problems in their minds but one man is never the cause of an entire countries problems. The problem is the system and the culture of the elites that operate it.

The prime minister has assumed presidency and I heard his speech, he was talking about programs and initiatves he wanted to do, things that a temporary president does not do.....keep an eye on him, after things settle down, he will make elections and win by 90% and he will never remove the state of emergency and he knows what the population is capable of, so he will make sure this time things are really really under his control, so don't be surprised if you hear them talking about the good old days under ben-ali.