ZINE El-Abidine Ben Ali - whose ousting as Tunisian president
triggered the popular uprisings across the Middle East - is in a coma in
a Saudi hospital, a family friend said yesterday.
The 74-year-old slipped into a coma two days ago while being
treated in a Jeddah hospital. "He had a stroke, and his condition is
serious," the friend said.
Earlier, a spokesman for the interim
government that replaced Mr Ben Ali's regime would neither confirm nor
deny reports he was in hospital.
Tunisia's Le Quotidien newspaper had reported the stroke.
Government
spokesman Taieb Baccouch said Mohamed Ghannouchi's transitional
government, which includes members of the opposition, would discuss Mr
Ben Ali's condition during a cabinet meeting on Friday.
Mr Ben Ali and his family fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14 after a popular uprising ended his 23-year grip on power.
Dissident and journalist Touafik Ben Brik, who was jailed under the
regime for articles criticising Mr Ben Ali, said 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."
Yadh Ben Achour, a Tunisian
lawyer and head of the newly established national commission for
political reform, said Mr Ben Ali's illness in exile "is proof there is
justice on earth".
On the streets of Tunis, there was little sympathy for the former president as the news broke.
"If
he dies, we're losing a dictator and I say good riddance," said Adel,
50, a 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."
Mr Ben Ali, his wife, Leila Trabelsi,
and 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.
AFP