Tunisia’s President Beji Caid Essebsi has died aged 92,the presidency said in a statement on Thursday.
The veteran politician, the oldest head of state after Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, came to power in 2014, three years after the Arab Spring uprising toppled Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and sparked revolts in several Arab nations.
He had been hospitalised with a severe illness in late June and was returned to intensive care this morning.
Under the country’s constitution, the president of the parliament will assume the presidency for 45 to 90 days while elections are organised.
Essebsi won office in 2014 in the wake of the country’s Arab Spring uprising.
He recently announced he wouldn’t run in the election scheduled for November, saying a younger person should lead the country.