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Has anything changed in the Middle East?

| Tuesday, 3 March 2011 | 18:00 - 19:00 GMT


"Nothing has changed. Our demand was the fall of the regime - not just Mubarak - and this has not happened yet," says Khaled Ibrahim, one of the Egyptian protesters back in Tahrir Square.

New rulers are in place in Egypt, Tunisia and parts of Libya. But how new are they?

Half of the new Egyptian cabinet were ministers under Mubarak. Tunisians just got rid of the second prime minister in two months because he was a remnant of the old regime. And the new interim government in Benghazi is headed up by Gaddafi's former Justice Minister, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, who only resigned from the Gaddafi government a week ago. (Time magazine looks at who's in charge here).

In Egypt, protesters have returned to Tahrir Square to demand the resignation of the new Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq. Egyptian blogger Zeinobia writes that the new Egyptian cabinet "is not a new interim cabinet but rather a ministerial reshuffle."

Your comments

  1. Comment sent via BLOG

    Dodou wrote: Africans should be led by African ideology but not through the so-called western idea of democracy.

  2. Comment sent via Facebook

    James in Arkansas US: The thing all these different peoples seem to be missing is that Democracy is a PROCESS, not a system of government

  3. Comment sent via Facebook

    Lawrence in Lusaka :Change will surely come but it will take time and patience, but people who have fought for this change shouldn't relax but apply pressure

  4. Comment sent via Facebook

    Kumbukani posts:Its the fall of dictators but the same old guard still running things.

  5. Comment sent via Facebook

    Elsio from Mozambique :What concerns me in Libya is the fact that I haven't seen the face of the leader behind the protest. And the question is, what will happen, should Gaddafi step down? And what about all the weapons in civilian hands? The chaos is just beginning in the Middle East.

  6. Comment sent via BLOG

    Minnesota Mary posted :This is the first time that a wave of change and revolution has swept through a region - and the whole world has known what was going on instantly. Things are progressing so quickly, that instant results are expected, but no matter how quickly events might progress, or how immediately people know about them, people are not machines, and patience is needed.

  7. Comment sent via BLOG

    Tim in South Africa 'The UN should act like it acts at any country, give them relief, welfare & social suport as much as you can without any ill intentions.'

  8. Comment sent via SMS

    Change is not an event but a process. From MANSOUR of Monrovia.

  9. Comment sent via BLOG

    20,000 people are trying to escape from Libya to Tunisia. Shouldnt United Nations troops be stationed there to alleviate the suffering of the fleeing masses?