From Tunis to Amman to Sana'a, wave of protest spreads across the region

Elsewhere in the Arab world yesterday, police in Tunisia stormed a five-day protest demanding the interim government resign, and 200 Islamists marched in Tunis to demand religious freedom in what had been a secular state. In Jordan, thousands marched in Amman and other cities to demand the prime minister, Samir Rifai, step down over rising prices and unemployment, in a protest after Friday prayers organised by the Muslim Brotherhood but including members of socialist parties and unions. In Yemen, socialists, Islamists, and youth activists had shut down Sana'a yesterday to demand President Ali Abdullah Saleh resign. Syria appeared to follow Egypt's lead by blocking access to the web today, though an official denied this. Sam Jones