Factbox on protests

Here are details of some of the major protests against authoritarian governments, rising consumer prices, poverty and high unemployment around the Middle East and North Africa

IRAQ

-- Around 2,000 people took to the streets in Kut, 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Baghdad, throwing bricks and stones at Iraqi security forces. Some voiced direct anger at Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, echoing anti-government rallies in other parts of the Arab world.

-- Three people were killed and dozens wounded when the protesters demanding better services clashed with police and set fire to government buildings in Kut.

BAHRAIN

-- Over a thousand mourners gathered in Bahrain on Wednesday to bury a man killed in clashes with security forces. An additional 2,000 people were camped out at a major road junction in the centre of Manama and demanded a change of government in Bahrain, where a Sunni family rules over a Shi'ite majority.

-- Fadel Matrouk was killed when police in Bahrain clashed with mourners at the funeral of another protester shot dead during an anti-government "Day of Rage" on February 14, witnesses and police said on Tuesday. -- King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, trying to defuse the tension, said he would give 1,000 dinars ($2,650) to each local family, and the government has indicated that it may free minors arrested under a security crackdown last year.

LIBYA

-- A riot in Libya's second city was triggered by the arrest of human rights activist Fethi Tarbel, who has worked to free political prisoners, Quryna newspaper said.

-- Reports from Benghazi, about 1,000 km (600 miles) east of the Libyan capital, indicated the city was calm but that overnight, protesters armed with stones and petrol bombs had set fire to vehicles and fought with police.

-- Gaddafi opponents have used the Facebook social networking site to call people onto the streets across Libya on Thursday for what they described as a "day of rage".

IRAN

-- Supporters and opponents of the government clashed on Wednesday at a funeral for a student shot dead during Monday's banned opposition rally.

-- State TV showed thousands of government supporters at Tehran University for the funeral of Sanee Zhaleh, one of two people shot dead on Monday. Each side blames the other for the killing. Each side claimed the victim as their own supporter.

-- An opposition website said at least 1,500 were arrested while taking part in Monday's banned protests.

-- A large majority of Iranian lawmakers signed a motion for two opposition leaders, who have said they were living under virtual house arrest, to be tried, calling them "corrupts on earth". Being "corrupt on earth" is a charge which has been levelled at political dissidents. It is a capital offence.

EGYPT

-- President Hosni Mubarak stepped down on February 11 following 18 days of massive protests.

-- Pro-democracy leaders plan a "Victory March" on Friday to celebrate the revolution and honour those killed.

-- The military council said on Tuesday it hoped to hand over power to an elected civilian leadership within six months and insisted they had no desire to keep control following the overthrow of Mubarak.

YEMEN

-- Protests against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh spread across Yemen on Wednesday with hundreds of people taking to the streets of Sanaa, Aden and Taiz. In the capital Sanaa, at least 800 protesters marched through the streets despite police efforts to break up the demonstration.

-- Anti-government protests have continued for the past six days, despite often violent clashes with government loyalists.

-- Police have cracked down on both sides to prevent fighting and have generally refrained from attacking protesters. But security forces have beaten and detained journalists.

ALGERIA

-- Thousands of police in riot gear blocked off the centre of Algeria's capital on Saturday and stopped government opponents from staging a protest march that sought to emulate Egypt's popular revolt.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, seeking to prevent opposition calls for protests from building momentum, has promised more democratic freedoms and ordered new job-creation measures.

JORDAN

-- King Abdullah swore in a new government on February 9, led by a former general who promised to widen public freedoms in response to anti-government protests.

-- Anti-government activists have protested in Jordan where a mix of tribal and Islamist-led opposition have called for moves toward a constitutional monarchy that limits the powers of the throne.

TUNISIA

-- Protests that have empowered countries throughout the region started in Tunisia after Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit vendor, set himself on fire on December 17 in protest at his treatment by local police.

-- Protests eventually forced President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country on January 14.

The government said 78 people were killed since December. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has put the number at 117.

-- Since Ben Ali's departure Tunisia's interim government has been making faltering steps toward stability. Police in many places have melted away, and strikes and protests around the country are disrupting the economy.