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TUNIS: Ousted Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is “in a coma” in a Saudi hospital following a stroke, a family friend told AFP on Thursday. The 74-year-old former leader slipped into a coma “two days ago” while being treated in a Jeddah hospital after suffering a stroke, according to the friend.
“He had a stroke, and his condition is serious,” he said. Ben Ali and his family fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14 after a popular uprising ended his 23-year grip on power in the north African country.
Earlier, a spokesman for the interim government that replaced Ben Ali's regime would neither confirm nor deny the reports that he was in hospital.
Tunisia's Le Quotidien newspaper reported earlier Thursday that Ben Ali had suffered a stroke. The former ruler also reportedly suffers from prostate cancer.
Dissident and journalist Touafik Ben Brik, who was jailed under the regime for articles criticising Ben Ali's rule, told AFP he felt as if he was “almost in mourning” for the dictator, such was his hold on the country.
“I can never forget. He is still in us, he is part of our past and he will live for a long time in us.”
Another long time opponent, communist activist Hama Hammami, said “it's what happens to all the world's dictators.”
Yadh Ben Achour, a Tunisian lawyer and head of the newly established national commission for political reform, said Ben Ali's hospitalisation in exile “is proof there is justice on earth”.
In Tunis, there was little sympathy on the streets for Ben Ali as the news broke.
“If he dies, we're losing a dictator and I say 'Good riddance',” said Adel, a 50-year-old teacher. “We're turning a page, we've other things to do in this country.”
Amin, a 25-year-old student, had an equally harsh assessment. “If his death is confirmed I can only say that God's punishment has been quick.
“I'm opposed to his burial in this country.” Since Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14, details have gradually come to light of the extent of corruption under his rule.
He and his wife Leila Trabelsi, along with their inner circle, are suspected of having pocketed much of the country's wealth over the years and of taking personal stakes in much of the economy.
Central bank chief Mustapha Kamel Nabli said this week that Tunisian banks funded businesses linked to the families of the couple to the tune of 1.3 billion euros.
