Six months of Arab revolt

Key dates in the revolts shaking the Arab world: - December 17, 2010: In Tunisia, Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old university graduate who has only been able to find work as a fruit seller sets himself alight to protest harassment and unemployment. Two days later rioting breaks out that will spread across the Arab world. Bouazizi dies from his burns on January 5. - January 14, 2011: Confronted with a massive popular movement, Tunisia\'s authoritarian president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali steps down and flees with his family. He finds refuge in Saudi Arabia. - January 25: The protests spread to Egypt, the most populous Arab country, with thousands of protesters demanding the ouster of longtime president Hosni Mubarak. - January 27: In Yemen, thousands of protesters in Sanaa demand the ouster of longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh. - February 11: In Egypt, with massive crowds filling the central Tahrir Square in Cairo, Mubarak steps down and hands over power to the military. He leaves for his country residence on the Red Sea coast. - February 14: Protests break out in Bahrain, a conservative Gulf kingdom with an underprivileged Shiite Muslim majority population and major port facilities used by the US Navy. - February 17: In Libya\'s second city of Benghazi, protests erupt against the regime of Moamer Kadhafi. The movement quickly turns into a civil war, with Kadhafi\'s forces making rapid gains. - March 14: Saudi Arabia sends troops into neighbouring Bahrain, where pro-democracy protests are crushed. - March 15: The protests spread to Syria, a country considered particularly sensitive due to its borders with Israel, Lebanon and Iraq. - March 19: With Kadhafi\'s forces poised to take the rebel-held Libyan city of Benghazi, the UN Security Council adopts a resolution authorising the use of force. France, Britain and the United States open the hostilities, and the resulting bombing campaign is later taken over by NATO. - April 21: In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad announces the end of a 48-year-old state of emergency, but protests continue. - May 19: In Egypt the army announces elections for September. - June 3: During heavy fighting in Yemen\'s capital, President Saleh is injured and taken out of the country. - June 17: In Morocco, where a protest movement has also been building, King Mohammed VI outlines reforms to be put to a referendum on July 1. - June 26: Syrian troops, who have deployed in the north-east, the north-west and the Turkish border push towards the Lebanese border. - June 27: The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Kadhafi on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.