TRIPOLI (AFP) – Below is a summary of the revolts shaking the Arab world for the past ten months, resulting in the ouster of the Tunisian, Egyptian and Libyan regimes.

LIBYA

From February 15-19 protests erupt against the regime of Moamer Kadhafi in the east of the country and are violently repressed. The protest movement spreads and turns into a civil war.

In March a military operation is launched by the United States, Britain and France against the Libyan regime under a UN mandate, before NATO takes over control.

In August rebels seize Tripoli and Kadhafi goes into hiding.

On Thursday the new rulers announce Kadhafi has been killed and his hometown and last bastion of Sirte liberated. The new authorities are represented by the National Transitional Council (NTC).

TUNISIA

The self-immolation on December 17, 2010 of Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old fruit and vegetable seller, in the central town of Sidi Bouzid sparks off the popular uprising that leads to the ouster on January 14, 2011 of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali after 23 years in power.

Ben Ali finds refuge in Saudi Arabia. In his absence he has been sentenced to more than 66 years in prison at three separate trials.

Tunisians will vote in an October 23 election for a constituent assembly charged with drawing up a new constitution.

EGYPT

On January 25, demonstrations start against president Hosni Mubarak who had been in power since 1981.

On February 11, with massive crowds filling the central Tahrir Square in Cairo, Mubarak steps down and hands over power to the military. Nearly 850 civilians are killed in the violence.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi heads the country. Legislative elections are planned for late November and a presidential election in 2012.

On August 3 the 83-year-old Mubarak appears in court, accused of involvement in the killings of anti-regime activists during the riots, and corruption.

SYRIA

Since March 15, the regime of President Bashar al-Assad has faced a protest movement across the country.

Pro-democracy activists are demanding the fall of the regime and free elections.

Despite sanctions and threats of foreign intervention, Assad’s regime refuses international calls for an end to a bloody crackdown in which more than 3,000, mainly civilians, have been killed, according to the United Nations.

Syria’s leading opposition grouping, the Syrian National Council, is created in late August.

YEMEN

In Yemen, a major protest movement is launched on January 27 to demand the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in power since 1978. The regime is weakened by army defections, but Saleh refuses to stand down.

Several hundred protesters have been killed during the protests.

JORDAN

Unrest starts on January 14, when thousands of Jordanians take to the streets of Amman and other cities. King Abdullah II has vowed constitutional reforms leading to more democracy. The unrest has not taken on the proportions of other Arab countries.

BAHRAIN

From mid-February to mid-March, Bahrain sees protests calling for political reforms. Saudi Arabia in mid-March sends troops into its neighbour, where the protests are crushed. Around 30 people die during the repression.

Although mass protests have subsided, tensions remain high as the trials of dozens of opposition figures and protesters continue in the capital.