Ousted Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is "in a coma" in a Saudi hospital following a stroke, a family friend told AFP on Thursday. The 74-year-old former leader slipped into a coma "two days ago" while being treated in a Jeddah hospital after suffering a stroke, according to the friend.
"He had a stroke, and his condition is serious," he said. Ben Ali and his family fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14 after a popular uprising ended his 23-year grip on power in the north African country.
Earlier, a spokesman for the interim government that replaced Ben Ali's regime would neither confirm nor deny the reports that he was in hospital.
Tunisia's Le Quotidien newspaper reported earlier Thursday that Ben Ali had suffered a stroke. The former ruler also reportedly suffers from prostate cancer.
Dissident and journalist Touafik Ben Brik, who was jailed under the regime for articles criticising Ben Ali's rule, told AFP 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."
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