Man sets himself ablaze in Egypt, copying same action in Tunisia

Two men set themselves ablaze yesterday an Egyptian security official said, the second such incident in two days.

On Monday, an Egyptian man set himself on fire outside parliament, apparently copying the same action by a protester in Tunisia which sparked an uprising and led to Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fleeing the country after 23 years in power.

Copycat immolation attempts also took place in Mauritania and Algeria, where five people have now tried to burn themselves to death. In the latest, a 36-year-old unemployed man set himself on fire near the frontier with Tunisia in the El Oued region, Algerian newspapers reported.

Factbox

Self-immolation has been a form of political protest since the 1960s. Here are several examples:

• Vietnam: In June, 1963, a Buddhist monk, Thich Quang Duc, 66, dies after setting himself ablaze to protest against the religious policies of South Vietnamese president Ngo Din Diem. He is followed by several other bonzes and nuns, contributing to the fall of the regime.

• Former Czechoslovakia: On January 16, 1969, student Jan Palach, 20, sets himself alight on Prague’s Wenceslas Square to protest the Soviet occupation. Around 30 similar cases follow.

• Former Soviet Union: In November 1983, a Russian sets himself on fire in Moscow’s Red Square in protest at the Soviet regime.

• South Korea: On April 26, 1991, two South Korean students die after setting themselves on fire to protest what they call a military dictatorship.

• China: On January 21, 2001 five members of the Falungong sect commit self-immolation on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to protest against what they call religious repression.

• Europe: In June 2003 an Iranian woman sets herself on fire in Paris to protest a French police operation against the Iranian opposition People’s Mujahedeen. Other similar suicide attempts take place in Paris, Bern, London and Rome.

• Turkey: On May 1, 2004, Turkish journalist Selma Kubat commits suicide by immolation at Gebze, in northwestern Turkey, to protest the conditions under which he is being detained by the authorities.

• Myanmar: In March, 2008, a 26-year-old man sets himself ablaze on the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon in protest at the ruling junta.