Riots spread as the “Tunisia effect” hit Egypt, where police used tear gas on tens of thousands of protesters trying to produce a momentum that could topple the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Inspired by the massive demonstration in Tunisia that brought an end to the 23-year regime of Zine El Abidine, the “Front to Defend Egyptian Protesters” took advantage of a national Egyptian holiday to organize demonstrations across the country.

Police fired tear gas on crowds in Cairo, but no live fire was reported. “The security agencies are able to stop any attempt to attend” the protests, Interior Minister Habib Adly told the government-run al-Ahram newspaper. “Youth staging street protests [are] ineffective,” he added. He also rejected comparing Egyptian police brutality and torture with methods used in the toppled Tunisian regime, calling Thursday allegations “propaganda.”

Egyptian opposition figure and Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei encouraged police to “regain your role as the protectors of the people rather than protectors of … fraud elections.”

Imitating the Tunisia Twitter and Facebook campaign, anti-government activists demanded a raise in the minimum wage and eradicating laws that allow the government to use police to help maintain rule in emergencies.

The radical and outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, which was a part of protests in Jordan following the Tunisian revolution, did not participate in the demonstrations in Egypt.

In Lebanon, Sunni Muslims rioted against the Hizbullah political coup.

Most media observers have stated that the Tunisia revolution will not easily be duplicated in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, where the government has complete control of massive police and army forces.

January 22, 2011: Analysts state Arab rulers are growing increasingly concerned over their vulnerability to popular uprisings by disgruntled citizenry, despite security from military backing.

More unrest is expected to hit Jordan as local Muslim Brotherhood chapter leads a second protest against the government. The Islamic Action Front – the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood and the chief opposition party to the government – is leading a movement to censure the monarchy over rising prices for foodstuffs and fuel.

Arab leaders have expressed concern that protests in Jordan could echo the riots that have toppled the 23-year-long government of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Last week Jordanian Prime Minister Samir Rifai announced a $125 million package of subsidies for oil and sugar designed to calm protests over poverty and unemployment.

However, Islamic Action Front leader Hamza Mansour told the media that his movement will hold more protests on to pressure the government to cut prices. In a claim similar to those of opposition leaders in Iran, Mansour told reporters the November 9 parliamentary elections had been “rigged”, despite the fact that his movement had boycotted the polls. Mansour told the media, he wants King Abdullah II to “dismiss the cabinet, allow for the formation of an interim government that enjoys the confidence of the people until a Cabinet elected by the people is in place.”

Arab Leaders Fear Local Uprisings: Arab League secretary-general Amr Moussa warned Wednesday in a speech at the start of the body’s economic summit in Sharm el-Sheikh that Arab leaders should learn a lesson from the uprising in Tunisia. “It is on everyone’s mind that the Arab self is broken by poverty, unemployment and a general slide in indicators,” calling the events in Tunisia an example of the “big social shocks” that await Arab societies. “This is in addition to political problems that have not been resolved,” he stated, according to the Associated Press.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak also noted that rising food prices and unemployment could threaten the status quo in Arab nations. In an opening address to the gathering, Mubarak stated, “We are not isolated from the world with its problems, challenges and crises. Employment and creating employment opportunities will remain one of the most important challenges we face… We have priorities to achieve food security and combat climate change impacts,” he added.

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Janauary 22, 2011: Drawing inspiration from the revolt in Tunisia, thousands of Yemenis fed up with their president’s 32-year rule demanded his ouster Saturday in a noisy demonstration that appeared to be the first large-scale public challenge to the strongman. The protests in Yemen appeared to be the first of their kind.

The nation’s 23 million citizens have many grievances: they are the poorest people in the Arab world, the government is widely seen as corrupt and is reviled for its alliance with the United States in fighting al-Qaida, there are few political freedoms and the country is rapidly running out of water.

Still, calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down had been a red line that few dissenters dared to test. In a reflection of the tight grip Saleh’s government and its forces have in the capital, outside the city, that control thins dramatically. Saturday’s demonstration did not take place in the streets, but was confined to the grounds of the University of Sanaa.

Around 2,500 students, activists and opposition groups gathered there and chanted slogans against the president, comparing him to Tunisia’s ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, whose people were similarly enraged by economic woes and government corruption. “Get out get out, Ali. Join your friend Ben Ali,” the crowds chanted.

One of the organizers, Fouad Dahaba, said the demonstration was only a beginning and they will not stop until their demands are met. “We will march the streets of Sanaa, to the heart of Sanaa and to the presidential palace. The coming days will witness an escalation,” said Dahaba, an Islamist lawmaker and head of the teachers’ union.

Making good on that pledge will be difficult. Like other entrenched regimes in the Arab world, Yemen’s government shows little tolerance for dissent and the security forces bolstered by U.S. military aid intended for fighting the country’s virulent al-Qaida offshoot are quick to crack down.

Police fired tear gas at the demonstrators, whose grievances include proposed constitutional changes that would allow the president to rule for a lifetime. Around 30 protesters were detained, a security official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

Since the Tunisian turmoil, Saleh has ordered income taxes slashed in half and has instructed his government to control prices. He also ordered a heavy deployment of anti-riot police and soldiers to several key areas in the capital and its surroundings to prevent any riots.

Nearly half the population lives below the poverty line of $2 a day and doesn’t have access to proper sanitation. Less than a tenth of the roads are paved. Tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes by conflict, flooding the cities. The government is riddled with corruption, has little control outside the capital, and its main source of income which is oil, could run dry in a decade.

Protests were also held in the southern port city of Aden, where calls for Saleh to step down were heard along with the more familiar slogans for southern secession. Police fired on demonstrators, injuring four, and detained 22 others in heavy clashes. Military forces responded harshly to two similar protests a day earlier in four cities in the nearby southern province of Lahj, even firing mortar shells that killed one woman. The response forced residents to flee.

Besides the battle with al-Qaida’s local franchise, which has taken root in the country’s remote and lawless mountains, Yemen’s government is also trying to suppress the secessionist movement and a separate on-and-off rebellion in the north. Adding popular street unrest to that mix could present the government with a new challenge, though it has shown itself to be resilient even to the occasional al-Qaida attacks to penetrate the capital’s defences.

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