Therevolution in Tunisia began when Mohammed Bouazizi, a street vendor,set himself on fire to protest his country’s poverty. His deathlater became a symbol around which others organized violent riots,leading to dozens of deaths. However, the regime was unable tocontain the upheaval. Growing numbers of protesters were angry at theluxurious lifestyles that their leaders enjoyed while ordinary peoplecould not find jobs nor afford basic living expenses. Mr. Ben Ali’spromise to hold open elections was not enough to calm the uprising,and his ouster led to the formation of an interim unity governmentled by Tunisia’s prime minister, Mohammed Ghannouchi.

Oneof Mr. Ghannouchi’s first acts was to release 1,800 politicalprisoners on January 20, but demonstrations continued as many of Mr.Ben Ali’s men remained involved in key positions. The interimgovernment issued the warrant for Mr. Ben Ali’s arrest on chargesof financial corruption, and also called on international authoritiesto detain members of the former president’s family. A Tunisianjournalist named Tunisia’s political upheaval the “JasmineRevolution.” With the help of social networks, some observers evencalled it “Twitter revolution.” What Tunisians had done in thisrevolution was credited with inspiring similar calls for politicalchange in other countries throughout North Africa and the MiddleEast. President Obama and other EU leaders have voiced their supportfor the protesters in Tunisia but deny any involvement in spurringthe revolution.