Tunisia’s Ben Ali in a Coma

By Eric Sande

Tunisia's ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is in hospital in Saudi Arabia after suffering a stroke two days ago and lapsed into a coma, according to reports quoted by French daily Le Monde.

The 74-year-old, who fled to seek refuge in Saudi Arabia last month when he faced tremendous popular protests, was said to be in a grave condition. His decision to flee Tunisia for the Red Sea city of Jeddah on 14 January was a victory for the month-long revolution and helped spread a mood of uprising across the Arab world.

This report comes only days after Monday Egyptian press and other news sources claimed Egyptian Hosni Mubarak, who resigned from office Friday, is gravely ill and may have fallen into a coma. Mubarak , who is said to have been treated for cancer before has had his health seriously deteriorating. Egyptian newspaper Masry al-Youm has reported that Mubarak went into a coma on Saturday.

French journalist and Tunisia expert Nicolas Beau reported that Ben Ali had been admitted to a Saudi hospital favoured by the Saudi royal family but had been registered under a false name for security reasons. He said that Tunisia's interim president had been informed of Ben Ali's predicament two days ago.

Ben Ali's wife Leila, whose lavish consumption made her a hate figure in Tunisia, is reported not at her husband's side and might be in Libya.

The EU has frozen the assets of Ben Ali and his family as Tunisia investigates the alleged corruption of the ruling family and toppled regime.

Tunisian Justice Minister Azhar Karoui Chebbi on January 26 announced that Tunisia has requested an international arrest warrant for its former president.

Ben Ali was in power in Tunisia for 23 years before a popular uprising forced him to flee the country.