Tunisia bids farewell to President Essebsi

By Adil Essabiti

TUNIS (AA) - The funeral of Tunisia’s first democratically elected President Beji Caid Essebsi was underway on Saturday.

Many foreign leaders and delegations are attending the state funeral, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Algerian President Abdelkader Ben Saleh and Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay.

Essebsi died on Thursday at the age of 92 in a military hospital in Tunis after being hospitalized over health concerns a day earlier.

Essebsi was elected president in 2014 in the first free election held in Tunisia after a popular uprising deposed autocrat Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.