CAIRO (AP) - Protesters have set themselves on fire in Egypt, Algeria and Mauritania.

They're apparently copying the act that helped trigger a popular uprising in the North African country of Tunisia.

There are concerns the practice could become a trend among activists seeking to force changes in the region.

Egyptian officials say the man who ignited himself outside the parliament building in Cairo was taken to a hospital with light burns. They say he's the owner of a small restaurant, and was protesting a policy that keeps restaurants from buying cheap subsidized bread to resell to their patrons.

A Mauritanian man who's reportedly unhappy with the government also is hospitalized after setting himself on fire today.

Algeria has reported cases of self-immolation in seven towns since Saturday, two of them today.
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