It’s been 15 years since Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old Tunisian street vendor, set himself on fire to protest police harassment and authorities’ negligence after his cart was confiscated by police.

his desperate act triggering nationwide protests Millions face the harsh reality of rising unemployment, corruption and a decades-old political system that leaves little room for expression or change.

Within 28 days, demonstrators overthrew President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had been in power for 23 years.

In 2011, inspired by the uprising in Tunisia, millions of people from Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria took to the streets.

The movement, known as the Arab Spring, led to the toppling of five long-time leaders. Al Jazeera looks back at what happened to those leaders.

Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

• 1936-2019
• During his term in office: 1987-2011 (23 years)
• status: Died in exile

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali came to power in 1987 when, as prime minister, he declared President-for-life Habib Bourguiba unfit to govern due to his health.

During his tenure, the former security chief worked to suppress any challenges to his rule and established a strict system based on the security services and a loyal ruling party.

He opened up the economy and delivered growth, but the country became mired in deepening corruption, inequality and media censorship, sparking public outrage and anger.

After the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi on December 17, 2010, popular discontent erupted, including police abuses, youth unemployment and entrenched corruption.

After nearly a month of non-stop demonstrations, Ben Ali dismissed the government on January 14, declared a state of emergency, and fled to Saudi Arabia.

A Tunisian court later sentenced him in absentia to life in prison, which he did not serve. Eight years later, on September 19, 2019, Ben Ali died in exile in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, at the age of 83.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak

• 1928-2020
• During his term in office: 1981-2011 (30 years)
• status: Died in Egypt (after release)

After the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981, Hosni Mubarak became president of Egypt.

The former air force chief consolidated power through military rule and emergency laws, maintaining an iron-fisted rule characterized by a crackdown on dissent, limited political freedoms and widespread corruption.

On January 25, 2011, coinciding with Egypt’s annual police celebrations, protesters from the Arab world’s most populous nation, driven by high unemployment, poverty and political repression, took to the streets to demand Mubarak’s resignation.

On February 11, 2011, after 18 days of protests, Mubarak was forced to resign, ending his three-year term as president.

Mubarak was ordered to stand trial and later sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to murder peaceful protesters during the revolution.

However, the verdict was overturned by the country’s High Court and a retrial was ordered. While a retrial was pending, he was convicted on corruption charges and jailed for six years, although he spent little time in jail due to his health and the changing political landscape.

In 2017, he was acquitted. Mubarak passed away in Cairo on February 25, 2020, at the age of 91.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh

• 1947-2017
• During his term in office: 1978-2012 (33 years)
• status: Killed by Houthis

Ali Abdullah Saleh is Yemen’s long-time strongman, ruling for 33 years, first as president of North Yemen from 1978 and then as leader of a unified Yemen from 1990.

Known as a mastermind of tribal and military politics, Saleh once described governance in Yemen as “dancing on the heads of snakes”, taking advantage of the region’s shifting alliances.

Saleh was forced to step down in 2012 under a power transfer agreement following the 2011 Arab Spring protests.

However, he soon forged a surprising alliance with his former enemies, the Houthis, and helped them seize the capital Sanaa in 2014.

The agreement collapsed in 2017 when he broke with the Houthis and sought a deal with the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis. At the age of 75, he was killed by the Houthis.

Muammar Gaddafi of Libya

• 1942-2011
• During his term in office: 1969-2011 (42 years)
• status: Killed by rebels

Muammar Gaddafi was a military officer who seized power in a 1969 coup that overthrew Libya’s monarchy and rose to the rank of colonel, a post he held for life.

Gaddafi established a highly personalized and restrictive system, ruled through revolutionary councils rather than formal institutions, and maintained control by strategically exploiting Libya’s vast oil wealth.

Although he was internationally isolated for decades, he reengaged with Western countries after abandoning his nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs in the early 2000s.

On February 15, 2011, protests broke out in Benghazi after the arrest of a human rights lawyer. As in other Arab Spring countries, this event was a catalyst. However, Gaddafi’s violent crackdown escalated peaceful demonstrations into a full-scale armed uprising and civil war.

In August 2011, armed opposition forces captured Tripoli, marking the beginning of the end for the regime. NATO airstrikes and high-level internal defections proved decisive, tipping Gaddafi’s balance.

After Gaddafi retreated to his hometown of Sirte, he was captured and killed by rebels on October 20, 2011, ending his 42-year rule.

Syrian President Bashar Assad

• 1965 to present
• During his term in office: 2000-2024 (24 years)
• status: expelled, exiled

Bashar al-Assad came to power in 2000 at the age of 34. Hours after his father’s death, a special constitutional amendment lowered the minimum age for president.

His father, Hafez al-Assad, was a military officer who seized power in a 1970 coup and ruled Syria for 29 years, establishing a centralized, tightly controlled government that Assad then led for 24 years.

The trigger for the Syrian revolution was several teenagers They wrote anti-government graffiti on the walls of Daraa schools. This act of dissent sparked nationwide protests, resulting in a brutal crackdown by government forces and ultimately a civil war.

The war, which attracted global powers such as Russia, Iran, Turkey and the United States, lasted for nearly 14 years, making it one of the longest in the region. It has displaced more than half of the country’s population and created a severe refugee crisis.

On December 8, 2024, the 53-year rule of the Assad family ended.

The Syrian army collapsed within days following a lightning offensive spearheaded by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported by several other rebel factions.

As rebels entered Damascus, Bashar al-Assad and his family fled the country by plane to Moscow, where they were granted asylum and now live in exile.