The Jasmine Revolution began on 17 December 2010, when Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid, and ended on 14 January 2011, the day President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (b. 1936) fled to Saudi Arabia. On that day, the people suddenly found their voice and a public space to express it. TV and radio stations heard everyone’s grievances, and public places were transformed into large-scale Hyde Park Speakers’ Corners. Executive power was transferred from the president to the prime minister, and civil society became very active and influential, while the army became more visible and the police less arrogant.

he crackdown on al-Islah members and other Islamists relates to the wider suspicion the UAE and other Gulf states have towards the Muslim Brotherhood and local affiliated groups. The Gulf states in the past have accommodated Brotherhood-aligned movements and permitted Islamist dissidents from Arab republics to seek exile.

The US and Britain proceeded to attack Iraq without the approval of the Security Council after months of unproductive negotiationsat at the United Nations. The official arguments to convince the outside world, both in Washington and abroad, were found in Saddam Hussein’s alleged development of WMD (weapons of mass destruction, i.e., nuclear, chemical, and biochemical) and his supposed links with, or even support for, the al-Qaeda network.

The governments of the US and Great Britain – which started to work closely with the Saleh regime in the war against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and other Salafist groups after 9-11 –, initially took a cautious stand. However, when it became clear that the protests were unremitting and starting to spread elsewhere, Washington and London gradually shifted their political allegiance. UN Special Adviser on Yemen, Jamal Benomar, and others supported mediation by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) between Saleh, on the one hand, and the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) and the al-Ahmar’s on the other.

Yemen and the United States are officially co-operating in the battle against al-Qaeda. American CIA agents are believed to be operating in Yemen. In 2002, these agents hunted down and killed Qaid Sinan al-Harthi, better known as Abu Ali, one of those held responsible for the attack on the USS Cole, by firing a missile from an unmanned aircraft at the car in which he was travelling with five other suspects.

Overview of regional in-depth Fanack articles related to this and other Fanack country files.

Fanack presents a series of infographics and maps of the Middle East and North Africa, with topics ranging from civilizations of the Middle East, to refugees and cultural heritage sites at risk.

Palestinian Muslims are Sunni Muslims, adherents to the main branch within Islam. All Muslims are obliged to fulfil five acts, the so-called Five Pillars of Islam: the creed (al-shahada) ‘There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger’; daily prayers, five times a day (al-salat); almsgiving (al-zakat); fasting during Ramadan (al-sawm); and the pilgrimage to Mecca (the hadj). In addition to the Five Pillars, there is the duty to defend the community of believers (umma) against unbelievers and apostates in their own community (jihad).

In addition, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad instigated a series of suicide bombings on civilian targets in Israel after 1994. This was after an Israeli settler in the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron had shot dead a number of worshipers and injured many others.

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, with a Basic Law, but no political parties, unions, or other types of political association. The country’s basic system of governance – an alternative to a constitution – was established in 1992, following numerous calls for political reform.