North Africa sees its own intifada

[Joanne98]

(CNN) -- The overthrow of the Ben Ali regime in Tunisia on Friday -- following weeks of demonstrations, riots, and killings -- highlights a broader uprising or intifada taking place throughout North Africa.

From Morocco to Egypt, North Africa has recently been rocked by a series of violent disturbances that have left scores dead, government leaders shaken and outside observers puzzled by the scope, timing and intensity of upheavals in a region normally viewed as stable, moderate and pro-Western.

More surprisingly, there is no evidence that the usual catalysts of populist discontent -- the Palestinian question, U.S. support for Israel or al Qaeda-sponsored terrorism -- are in any way involved in these uprisings. In each instance, local grievances appear to be at the root of these bloody outbursts.

In Morocco, army and police units have been involved in deadly clashes with Sahrawi nationalists in the Western Sahara that Morocco has occupied and annexed since 1975.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/01/16/entelis.north.africa.intifada/