AFP - Former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, 74, who fled his country on 14 January under pressure from the street after 23 years of unchallenged power, is "comatose" for two days in a Jeddah hospital following a stroke, said Thursday AFP close to his family.
"He went into a coma two days ago. He is in hospital in Jeddah," said this source contacted by telephone by the AFP in a Gulf country. "He had a stroke (cerebrovascular accident), it is in a serious condition," she added.
"If he dies, a dictator is gone and I say good riddance. You turn the page, we have other things to do in this country," Adel responded, teacher of 50 years."If her death is confirmed, however, that I say this without divine punishment fell immediately," said a student of 25 years, Amin, interviewed in downtown Tunis. "I object to his burial in our country," he added.
Asked about the hospitalization of Ben Ali, spokesman for the Tunisian government, Taieb Baccouch, has not been able to confirm.He said that "his health will be discussed on Friday by the Cabinet."
The ousted president, who suffers from prostate cancer, and his family fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14 after nearly a month of unprecedented popular protest quelled in blood with dozens of deaths.
The Tunisian newspaper The Daily had published an article Thursday titled "Ben Ali suffered a stroke," citing the blog of a French journalist Nicolas Beau, expert from Tunisia, where he stated that Ben Ali is in serious condition and that for safety reasons, it "would be treated under the identity of a Saudi Emir.
Touafik Ben Brik, the Tunisian dissident journalist who has experienced the jails of the regime of Ben Ali for his critical articles, told AFP he felt "almost in mourning:" I could not forget it is still in us, it's part of our past and it will live long in us. "
One of the most famous Tunisian opposition, the Communist Hama Hammami, said that "it is the fate of all dictators in the world."
Tunisian lawyer for Yadh Ben Achour, president of the national commission of political, hospitalization Ben Ali proves that "there is justice on earth."
Ben Ali has ruled the country by building his regime on a balance between iron fist based on a policy now disgraced and prosperity, which eventually failed, causing his fall.
Father of six children, three from his first marriage, it appeared the last time often accompanied by his wife Leila Trabelsi.According to observers, he seemed fragile and under the influence of her husband's family accused of grip on the economy.
The revolt against the government began in Sidi Bouzid (West Central) after the suicide in mid-December Bouazizi Mohammed, an unemployed youth of 26 years unable to perform as a peddler by police and became the symbol of the frustration of young people in this country where unemployment is nearly 30% of young people.
The riots had gradually taken a political turn, had spread throughout the country and had won the capital affecting the bourgeois elites.The army played a vital role by refusing to fire on demonstrators at the height of the controversy.
Since his departure, the assets of the deposed president were frozen in several countries, many family members were arrested and international arrest warrant was issued against him and his wife.
Since then, a transitional government led by former Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi and comprising members of the former opposition, promised to devote pluralism and democracy. The first free elections - presidential and legislative-are planned in 6 months.An amnesty law is foreseen and the legalization of former opposition parties banned.
The new authorities, who continue to face social instability and a strong political protest, fear a "conspiracy" of the former regime loyalists.
