What sparked the anti-government protests in Tunisia in January 2011?

Answer 1

The immediate cause of the protests was the suicide of 26-year-old Mohamed Bouazizi on December 17. He could not find a job after graduating, and sold vegetables on the street in the town of Sidi Bouzid. When the police took up his trade because he was not licensed, he lit himself on fire in despair.

Answer 2

They started in the small inland town of Sidi Bouzid on the 17th December when a fruit seller called Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest after the police confiscated his unlicenced cart and abused him. (He was taken to hospital and died on the 4th January). The residents of the town began a protest at the regional government headquarters in support of him. Protests like this had happened before in Tunisia and normally the government had succeded in isolating them, but this time similar protests began in other towns during the next week.

By the 27th December, protests first began in Tunis as 1000 protestors gatherred to support the cause of Sidi Bouzid. The protests continued to grow in all major cities in the country into the new year until President Ben Ali fled the country on the 14th January.

Tunisia is one of the more liberal Arab countries - in particular, women are treated far better than in most Middle East countries and the government isn't subject to religious interference. It has been relatively prosperous, but with lots of corruption, inflation and unemployment that added to the protestors' grievances. The first dictator, Habib Bourguiba, ruled for 30 years is sometimes compared to Turkey's Ataturk, as he brought the country closer to the West. Ben Ali seized power off him in a coup in 1987.

Answer 3

The 2011 protests and riots in Libya were inspired by similar rioting previously in Tunisia and Egypt, which also inspired other protests throughout the Arab world.