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Paris (AFP)
From the devastating conflict in Syria to unprecedented mbad demonstrations in Algeria, the Arab world has experienced eight years of unrest. Only Tunisia continues democratization, while other countries are prey to war, repression and chaos.
A panorama:
– Tunisia: spark of the Arab Spring –
In December 2010, the self-immolation of a street vendor frustrated by police harbadment sparked protests against poverty and unemployment.
Less than a month later, popular pressure forced longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country.
Tunisia wins international praise for its peaceful transition.
In 2014, it adopts a new constitution that limits the presidential power. The general elections are won by Nidaa Tounes, an anti-Islamist party led by the moderate Islamist party Ennahda.
In December, Beji Caid Essebsi becomes the first democratically elected head of state in the country.
Since three major attacks perpetrated by the Jihadist Islamic State in 2015, the security situation has improved considerably. Legislative and presidential elections are scheduled for the end of 2019.
– Egypt: repression –
After an 18-day mbad revolt that cost nearly 850 lives, Hosni Mubarak resigned from his presidency on February 11, 2011, ending nearly three decades of power and the transfer of power to the military. .
In June 2012, Islamist Mohamed Morsi became the first civilian and freely elected chief of the most populous state in the Arab world.
The following year was marked by political crises and dissension, leading to the ousting of Morsi by the armed forces led by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi following widespread protests.
The new regime launches a bloody crackdown on Morsi supporters. An advocacy group, Amnesty International, claims that 1,400 people were killed in seven months, the majority of them being Islamist protesters.
Human rights groups accuse Sisi, president elected in 2014 and again in 2018, of running an ultra-repressive regime.
– Yemen: famine –
In February 2012, after more than three decades in power and a year of popular revolt, Ali Abdullah Saleh is ousted and his deputy Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi takes over.
In 2014, Shiite Houthi rebels launched an offensive and captured vast areas of the country, including the capital, Sanaa. The following year, Saudi Arabia led an Arab coalition aimed at halting the advance of the huthi movement.
According to the World Health Organization, some 10,000 people died in the conflict. Ten million are on the verge of starvation.
– Bahrain: dissent –
The tiny Gulf State, Bahrain, led by the Sunni Khalifa dynasty and backed by the powerful Saudi neighbor, Saudi Arabia, has been shaken by sporadic disturbances since 2011, when authorities cracked down on Shia protests demanding reforms. policies.
Since then, opposition has increased and hundreds of protesters have been imprisoned or stripped of their nationality.
– Libya: chaos –
On February 15, 2011, demonstrations erupt against the regime of Moamer Kadhafi, in power for 42 years.
The demonstrations are violently repressed and the disturbances turn into an armed revolt that enjoys the support of NATO. On October 20, Gaddafi was captured and killed during a battle for his hometown, Sirte, east of the capital Tripoli.
Libya is now ruled by two rival authorities: a government backed by Fayez al-Sarraj, backed by the international community and based in Tripoli, and a parallel administration operating in the east, backed by the military man strong Khalifa Haftar.
A multitude of militias are also fighting for control.
The Islamic State occupied Sirte for months before being ousted at the end of 2016. Faced with insecurity and political chaos, Libya became a transit hub for hundreds of thousands of migrants Africans trying to reach Europe by sea.
– Syria: Ninth year of war –
Syria was shattered by eight years of conflict that killed more than 370,000 people and uprooted more than 13 million people.
The peaceful protests that begin on March 15, 2011 are crushed and turned into an armed insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad, before escalating into total war in 2012.
In 2013-2014, lightly armed rebel groups were repulsed by Islamic militias such as the Al-Nusra Front, an affiliate of al-Qaeda, and then the Islamic State group.
With the military support of its allies, Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shiite organization, the regime reconquers the territory it had lost. Today, it controls nearly two thirds of the country.
– Algeria: mbadive demonstrations –
Algeria is shaken from 22 February 2019 by an unprecedented wave of protests, triggered when troubled President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in power since 1999, announced that he would run for a fifth term.
On March 11, Bouteflika withdrew from the presidential race but postponed the elections scheduled for April 18, extending his term.
The demonstrations continue.
? AFP 2019
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