Middle East protests: Country by country

Tunisia

President Ben Ali fled after weeks of protests

The downfall of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who resigned in January after weeks of protests against poverty and corruption, inspired pro-democracy activists across the Arab world.

He was forced from power after nearly a quarter of a century and flew to exile in Saudi Arabia.

Public anger was prompted by the suicide of a young, unemployed man, Mohamed Bouazizi, who set fire to himself on 17 December 2010 after officials had blocked his attempts to make a living selling vegetables.

On 20 June, the former leader and his wife were sentenced in absentia to 35 years in jail by a court in Tunis. Some of his former ministers have also faced trial.

Around 300 people died during the unrest, which led to the toppling of Mr Ben Ali.

In October, the moderate Islamist Ennahda party won the country's first democratic elections.

Some 80 new parties officially registered for the polls with Ennahda winning more than 41% of the vote to secure 90 seats in the 217-member parliament.

Congress for the Republic (CPR) - the country's biggest secularist party - was the runner-up with nearly 14%, winning 30 seats in parliament.

Ennahda, which was banned under the former regime, says it has modelled itself on the governing AK party in Turkey, another Muslim-majority country which has remained a secular state.

One key reform enacted even before the election was the dissolution of the notorious political police and state security apparatus, which were blamed for many human rights abuses.

Middle East unrest
Country	Corruption	Poverty	Age**	Literacy
Sources: Transparency International 2010 corruption index (higher number = greater corruption), World Bank, CIA World Factbook, UN (** Median age)
Yemen	146	41.8	17.9	61
Libya	146	n/a	24.2	88
Egypt	98	16.7	24	66
Syria	127	n/a	21.5	n/a
Saudi Arabia	50	n/a	24.9	n/a
Algeria	105	22.6	27.1	73
Jordan	50	14.2	21.8	92
Tunisia	59	7.6	29.7	78
Morocco	85	19	26.5	56
Bahrain	48	n/a	30.4	91
Iran	146	n/a	26.3	82