Tunisian President Essebsi dies at 92: official release

By Ali Abo Rezeg

TUNIS (AA) - Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi died on Thursday at age 92, said a statement by the Tunisian Presidency.

The presidency said Essebsi died in a military hospital in the capital Tunis.

Late on Wednesday, a source in the Tunisian presidency said Essebsi had been hospitalized over health concerns.

He was taken to the military hospital twice in the last month and was discharged on July 1.

Essebsi, Tunisia's first democratically elected president, took office in December 2014 after having served in a variety of key positions in the North African country for several decades, most notably as director of national security, interior minister, defense minister, and foreign minister.

Born in 1926, Essebsi took power in a changed political landscape after Tunisia witnessed a popular revolution known to have sparked the beginning of the Arab Spring uprisings.