Man dies after setting himself on fire in Saudi Arabia

A man has died after setting himself on fire in Saudi Arabia's south-western region of Jizan, officials have said.

Reports in the Saudi media say the man, who was in his 60s, set himself on fire using a petroleum product in the town of Samitah, and died later in hospital.

There have been several acts of self-immolation in the Arab world, mimicking the suicide of a man in Tunisia which provoked the anti-government uprising.

A Mauritanian man who set himself on fire also died in hospital on Saturday.

Yacoub Ould Dahoud, a 43-year-old businessman, was transferred to a clinic in Morocco with 90% burns after his act of self-immolation in protest at Mauritanian government on Monday in the capital, Nouakchott, his family said.

Read more