Tunisia president Béji Caïd Essebsi dies at 92: official
Tunisia’s president Beji Caid Essebsi has died, according to a statement from the presidency on Thursday.
Essebsi, who was 92 years old, was taken to a military hospital on Wednesday.
He had also been hospitalised late last month and spent a week in hospital after suffering a “severe health crisis”.
Essebsi has been a prominent figure in Tunisia since the overthrow of veteran autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, which was followed by uprisings against authoritarian leaders across the Middle East, including in nearby Libya and Egypt.
Parliamentary elections are expected to be held on Oct. 6 with a presidential vote following on Nov. 17. They will be the third set of polls in which Tunisians can vote freely following the 2011 revolution.
