Mother Tells UN’s Ban How Son’s Suicide Sparked Revolt
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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made his last appointment in Tunis his most meaningful one: a visit with the mother of the 26-year-old unemployed Tunisian whose self-immolation sparked a revolution.
Ban heard firsthand of the despair that led her son to set himself on fire outside the governor’s office on Dec. 17. His death 19 days later triggered protests over unemployment, corruption and rising food prices that culminated in President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s Jan. 14 flight to Saudi Arabia.