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TUNIS, Tunisia — A jobless young man set himself on fire in the center of Tunis on Tuesday in a gesture recalling the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, whose death ignited a revolt in Tunisia that echoed across the Arab world.
Security forces and bystanders tried to extinguish the flames before the man was rushed to a hospital, witnesses said.
"He is in very critical condition," a medical source in Mourouj hospital said, giving no further details.
The incident occurred hours before Prime Minister-designate Ali Larayedh was due to seek a confidence vote for his new Islamist-led government from the National Constituent Assembly.
The man burned himself outside the municipal theater in the capital's main Habib Bourguiba Avenue, the focus for protests that toppled President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali two years ago.
An Interior Ministry official did not name the man, but said he was aged 27, hailed from the northwestern city of Jandouba and had been looking for a job for a long time.
Tunisia's unemployment rate stands at about 17 percent, with graduates forming a large proportion of the jobless total.
Several Tunisians have set themselves ablaze in the past two years in protests emulating that of Bouazizi, a street vendor who torched himself on Dec. 17, 2010, in the town of Sidi Bouzid after a policewoman confiscated his fruit cart.
A young Tunisian man who set himself on fire is transported to an ambulance in the capital, Tunis, on Tuesday.
Bouazizi's death sparked protests that ended with Ben Ali's overthrow and inspired rebellions elsewhere in the Middle East that collectively became known as the Arab Spring.
The economic and social problems that fueled Tunisia's uprising have yet to be solved in a country now deeply polarized between Islamists and their opponents.
The last government, led by Hamadi Jebali, collapsed after the premier's own moderate Islamist Ennahda party rejected his plan for a technocrat cabinet to lead Tunisia into elections.
Related:
Tunisian PM resigns amid growing political crisis
Mother of fruit vendor who sparked Arab Spring arrested
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It seems like a short sighted form of protest. At least he didn't strap on a bomb and kill or wound hundreds. Muslims sure are irrational.
In Vietnam, during the 1960s, Buddhist monks publicly immolated themselves on several occasions. They did so as a form of political protest. So too have Americans:
The last incident was not a political protest, merely a drunk acting stupidly, but I think the point has been made:
People are irrational.
Muslim women have done this in desperation as well. Most because they could not take the abuse of their husbands anymore. Many African and ME countries have gone well beyond their carrying capacity. Most have few if any birth control programs or education. Some of these countries in spite of their grinding poverty actually encourage huge families. When the food runs out when the aid runs out and when they can no longer point a finger at the infidel what will they do then? Ah they turn on each other. This is where the west is headed if we do not close immigration until balance can be regained between mechanization and labor. In addition, food production and birth rate growth needs to be balanced.
wait a second didnt this happen last spring? this is old news. or is this just another arab spring. is this gonna turn into a yearly ritual, pick a unemployed man and light em on fire.
Suicides are common in all culture, including ours. Let’s not make this a political issue.
Feel bad for the guy
The man made it a POLITICAL/Public issue, by his chosen method of suicide...
While using a GUN is the chosen method of suicide for US males. So common that it does not even make the US News...
The suicide rates around the World are INCREASING due lack of VIABLE jobs. And have been for over a DECADE...
Absolutely true, and religion has little to do with it.