"The First Wikileaks Revolution? Tunisia Crisis: as it happened" @ The Guardian, U. K.

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Commenter @clunie mentions Egypt, where Hosni Mubarak leads an autocratic government that is unpopular among many sections of the population. Unrest has been put down brutally.

And in his Financial Times blog today, the paper's chief foreign affairs commentator Gideon Rachman draws a parallel with Egypt:

It is all strangely reminiscent of Egypt, where President Hosni Mubarak is now 82-years-old – and has not yet announced whether he will run for re-election later this year. Will his attitude be affected by developments in Tunisia?

He goes on:

The potential for unrest is not confined to North Africa. Saudi Arabia, the only Arab country that is a member of the G20, also fits the profile. King Abdullah is now in his eighties and is ailing. Despite its massive oil wealth, the country also suffers from high youth unemployment.

7.00pm: The opposition leader Najib Chebbi, one of Ben Ali's most outspoken critics, described the events as a "regime change". Reuters quoted him as saying to I-Tele TV in France:

This is a crucial moment. There is a change of regime under way. Now it's the succession. It must lead to profound reforms, to reform the law and let the people choose.

6.55pm: To @omarov and the pleas from others in the comments for more journalism from north Africa, our excellent Paris correspondent Angelique Chrisafis is in Tunis, has been on the streets today, and she is filing a report as we speak. I've just spoken to our foreign desk, who say Angelique will stay in Tunisia for the weekend at least. ...

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