Muhmmad Al-Najjar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
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toggle caption Muhmmad Al-Najjar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
A view of a mosque destroyed by regime forces in Douma, Syria, on March 21, 2018. Douma, on the outskirts of Damascus, was targeted by an air strike carried out by Syrian government forces. Muhmmad Al-Najjar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Nine years ago this month, residents of the small Syrian town of Douma were in full rebellion against the regime of President Bashar Assad. Throughout the preceding year, Assad had watched as popular protests ousted dictators in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, and demonstrations spread to Bahrain, Algeria, Yemen. Now pro-democracy dissent had ignited across his country including in Douma, just five miles from the capital Damascus.
During his visit to Moscow this week, Syria’s new Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told Sergey Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, that Mr Al Assad wants to speed up the process of stabilising Syria following nine years of conflict. At the moment, it seems impossible for the regime and its backers to reach a deal with Turkey over the fate of Idlib, a region in Syria’s north-west that is controlled by rebels mostly backed by Ankara – and Moscow and Damascus seem to be acknowledging this fact. This, then, leaves the Astana Process in tatters, thereby paving the way for new ideas – such as the one proposed in Moscow.
Mohamed Bouazizi was a simple man, his sister said in an interview with The World.
The siblings’ father passed away from a heart attack when they were young, Leila Bouazizi said, so Mohamed Bouazizi had to start working at a young age. Their mom worked at a farm making about $2 per day.
Mohamed Bouazizi used to get up at 3 a.m. to fill up his cart with fresh fruit and station himself in front of the city hall to sell them. His job helped support the family.
He sold bananas, strawberries, grapes whatever was in season.
According to Leila Bouazizi, city officials constantly harassed Mohamed Bouazizi by confiscating his wares. They said he needed to get a vendor’s permit, which he couldn’t afford. Mohamed Bouazizi complained about this to his family but pressed on because he needed to earn a living.