Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi died on Thursday at the age of 92. He was Tunisia's first democratically elected president.
The president's office announced on Thursday that Essebsi died at a military hospital in the capital, Tunis.No cause was given, but it had been reported that he was hospitalized last month.
Essebsi held key political posts under Tunisia's first president, Habib Bourguiba, following the country's independence from France in 1956.
Essebsi had already retired from politics when President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali was overthrown in 2011. It was the first of the Arab Spring uprisings against authoritarian leaders in the Middle East and Africa.In 2014, Essebsi was elected Tunisia's leader in the country's first democratic election.
A presidential election is scheduled for September 15. The speaker of the parliament, Mohamed Ennaceur, will be the interim president until a new president takes office.
NHK
