Ben Ali: Tunisian autocrat ousted in Arab spring dies in exile | World news


The ousted Tunisian autocrat Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has died in exile in Saudi Arabia aged 83, days after a free presidential election in his homeland, his family lawyer has said.

“Ben Ali just died in Saudi Arabia,” the lawyer, Mounir Ben Salha, told Reuters by phone.

Ben Ali fled Tunisia in January 2011 as his compatriots rose up against his oppressive rule in a revolution that inspired other Arab spring uprisings abroad and led to a democratic transition at home.

On Sunday, Tunisians voted in an election that featured candidates from across the political spectrum, sending two political outsiders through to a second-round vote that would have been unthinkable during Ben Ali’s era in power.

However, while Tunisians have enjoyed a much smoother march to democracy than citizens of other Arab states that rose up in 2011, many are economically worse off than they were under Ben Ali.

While almost all the candidates in Sunday’s election were vocal champions of the revolution, one of them, Abir Moussi, campaigned as a supporter of Ben Ali’s ousted government, receiving 4% of the votes.

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