Zine El Abidine Ben Ali

Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali (September 3, 1936 – September 19, 2019) was the second President of Tunisia from 1987 to 2011.

Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (cropped).jpg
2nd President of Tunisia
In office
7 November 1987 – 15 January 2011
(Acting to 2 April 1989)
Prime MinisterHédi Baccouche
Hamed Karoui
Mohamed Ghannouchi
Preceded byHabib Bourguiba
Succeeded byFouad Mebazaa (Interim)
Prime Minister of Tunisia
In office
2 October 1987 – 7 November 1987
PresidentHabib Bourguiba
Preceded byRachid Sfar
Succeeded byHédi Baccouche
Personal details
Born(1936-09-03)September 3, 1936
Hammam Sousse, French Tunisia
DiedSeptember 19, 2019(2019-09-19) (aged 83)
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Political partyDemocratic Constitutional Rally
Spouse(s)Leila Ben Ali
Full nameZine El Abidine Ben Haj Hamda Ben Haj Hassen Ben Ali

On January 14, 2011, he was forced to leave Tunisia and go to Saudi Arabia with his wife Leïla Ben Ali and their three children after a month of protests against his rule. The Arab Spring started in Tunisia.

Birth

Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali was born in Hammam Sousse on September 3, 1936.

Work before Presidency

He was assigned to manage (direct and take care) the Defense Military Security in 1964, and worked there until 1974. He was then promoted (his grade was changed to a superior one) to director-general of National Security at the Ministry of Interior in 1977. After that, he was assigned to take care of relations between Tunisia and the Kingdom of Morocco.

After being the ambassador of Tunisia in Poland, he returned to National Security.

Right before becoming the President of Tunisian Republic, Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali has been promoted to Prime Minister and the constitutional successor on October 1, 1987.

Five weeks after his promotion he, officially, became the Second President of Tunisia.

Controversy

The way that Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali governs had cause some problems with groups including the Al-Jazeera channel. Al-Jazeera does not believe it is correct for Ben Ali to say that Muslim women wearing headscarves (religious clothes) in public places must take then off and say that they will not wear them in public again.

Death

Ben Ali died at a hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia of prostate cancer on September 19, 2019 at the age of 83.[1][2]

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Media

References