Zine El Abidine Ben Ali had been president of Tunisia for 23 years until he was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia in January 2011, the first leader to fall in the Arab Spring uprisings. Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor in Tunisia, set himself on fire in protest of government corruption and high unemployment, sparking mass protests. His death led to the ouster of Ben Ali and helped inspire other Arab Spring movements. Hosni Mubarak had ruled Egypt for 30 years and was known for corruption and imprisoning political opponents, facing widespread calls to resign during the Egyptian revolution. Muammar Gaddafi had been leader of Libya for 42 years, gaining power through a military coup and ruling as a dictator