Former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, whose ousting sparked the Arab spring, dies at 83
- His downfall in early 2011 ignited similar popular uprisings across the Arab world that came to be known as the Arab spring
Former Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who was forced from power by a landmark popular uprising in early 2011 that sparked revolts across the Arab world, has died aged 83 in Saudi Arabia.
His downfall ignited similar uprisings against other authoritarian leaders across the Arab region, which led to the removal of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in the same year.
A career soldier, Ben Ali took power on November 7, 1987 when he toppled Habib Bourguiba, the ailing father of Tunisian independence who was by then reported to be senile.
“I needed to re-establish the rule of law,” Ben Ali told a French television channel in 1988. “The president was ill and his inner circle was harmful.”
Tunisians, including Islamists, hailed his bloodless, non-violent takeover.