President of the Tunisian Republic from November 7, 1987 to January 14, 2011, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has died on Thursday, September 19, 2019 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, following a cancer.
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was born on September 3, 1936 in Hammam Sousse. He headed Tunisia for 24 years during which he was able to raise the country’s economic level through privatization, especially in the fields of tourism and industry. He has also done a lot in education since the number of students has tripled in 25 years.
But, from 2000, he is accused of nepotism, corruption and infringement of individual freedoms. On December 17, 2010 demonstrations erupted in the country when a young street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire in Bouzid, in response to the seizure of his goods by the authorities. Then series of popular protests forced Ben Ali to an exile in Saudi Arabia while he entered his 5th term.
Very sick, he was treated in Jeddah. Although his family has rejected all rumors about his death in recent weeks, we learn from reliable sources that he died on Thursday, September 19, 2019
