Tunisians mark 1st anniversary of revolution that sparked Arab Spring with prudent optimism
By Associated Press, Updated: Saturday, January 14, 6:22 AM
TUNIS, Tunisia — Thousands of Tunisians marched in peaceful triumph Saturday to mark the one-year anniversary of the revolution that ended the dictatorship of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali — and sparked uprisings around the Arab world.
Tunisia greeted the anniversary with prudent optimism, amid worries about high unemployment that cast a shadow over Tunisians’ pride at transforming their country.
Now a human rights activist is president, and a moderate Islamist jailed for years by the old regime is prime minister at the head of a diverse coalition, after the freest elections in Tunisia’s history.
Tunisia’s uprising began on Dec. 17, 2010, when a desperate fruit vendor set himself on fire, unleashing pent-up anger and frustration among his compatriots, who staged protests that spread nationwide. Within less than a month, longtime president Ben Ali was forced out of power, and he fled to Saudi Arabia on Jan. 14, 2011.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/tunisians-mark-1st-anniversary-of-revolution-that-sparked-arab-spring-with-prudent-optimism/2012/01/14/gIQAfJt5xP_story.html
