UPDATE - Tunisia bids farewell to President Essebsi

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Adil Essabiti and Mumin Altas

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.

Mohamed Ennaceur, Tunisian interim president following the death of Essebsi, addressed the participants at the funeral.

Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay conveyed the condolences of the Turkish people and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Essebsi's family.

Following the death of Sibsi, the temporary President of the Tunisian Parliament, Mohammed Nasir, addressed the participants of the ceremony.

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.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar