Tunisia’s 92-year-old President Beji Caïd Essebsi died Thursday morning after being transferred to a hospital “under direct recommendation by his doctors,” the state news agency (TAP) announced on Thursday.
He died at 10:25 a.m. local time, at Tunis Military Hospital in the capital. Funeral procession details will be announced soon, TAP said.
The President had left the hospital on July 1 after “receiving the necessary treatment and recovering from a severe illness,” TAP added.
Last month, the President was hospitalized for tests, according to the news agency.
At 92, Essebsi was the oldest sitting president in the world.
He became Tunisia’s first democratically elected president in 2014. He had been praised for leading the first democratic success from revolutions that toppled autocratic leaders in the Arabic-speaking region in North Africa and the Middle East.
Tunisiahas, however, witnessed many terror attacks and suicide bombing in recent years.
The longtime politician announced in April he would not be seeking a second term to pave way for younger candidates in November elections.
His predecessor, President Zine el Abedine Ben Ali, was ousted in 2011 after 23 years in office.
