Man sets himself on fire in Cairo protest

BBC News, 17 January 2011

A man has set himself on fire in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, in an apparent protest over poor living conditions.

A self-immolation in Tunisia led to weeks of
protests and the fall of the government

The action echoes that of a Tunisian student whose self-immolation sparked a wave of protest in the country that brought down the government.

Witnesses said the man had poured fuel over himself outside Cairo's parliament building before setting himself alight.

The flames were put out by a police officer and the man was taken to hospital - his condition is not known.

A security source told Reuters the man, who has not been identified, had suffered burns to his hands and face.

Mohamed Bouazizi set fire to himself in the Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid in mid-December after police prevented him from selling vegetables without a permit. He died in early January.

His action was the starting point for weeks of increasingly violent protests across Tunisia over unemployment, corruption and high food prices which resulted in the resignation of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali last week.

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There have been no similar large scale protests in Egypt since the Tunisian unrest, but people there have voiced the same grievances.

But the BBC's Jon Leyne says the incident will be ringing alarm bells in the Egyptian government.

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Tunisia's protests spark suicide in Algeria and fears through Arab world