TUNISIA: Charges dropped in case that set off unrest.
A court on Tuesday dropped charges against a policewoman whose dispute with a fruit vendorwho later killed himself — sparked a chain of events that unleashed uprisings around the Arab world.
The state news agency TAP said the case against Fedia Hamdi was closed after the vendor’s family withdrew its complaint. The family says it acted in a gesture of tolerance and in an effort to heal wounds suffered in Tunisia’s upheaval.
The police officer was accused of slapping 26-year-old vendor Mohamed Bouazizi in December, and his wares were confiscated on the grounds that he didn’t have a permit. Humiliated, Bouazizi doused himself with gas and set himself ablaze in front of the governor’s office on Dec. 17. He died Jan. 5.
Horrified residents had staged a demonstration in support of Bouazizi’s act, which, in turn, spawned others by Tunisians angry over unemployment, corruption and repression.
YEMEN: Gunmen fire on protesters’ camp.
Gunmen on motorcycles opened fire Wednesday on hundreds of demonstrators camped out in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, killing one and wounding several others. In Aden, a policeman was killed and four others wounded after clashes with gunmen believed to be associated with the southern dissidents as hundreds of protesters blocked main roads with rocks and burning tires.
Denver Post wire services
