Tunisia bids farewell to president Essebsi at funeral
Tunisia on Saturday bid farewell to its late President, Beji Caid Essebsi, who passed away on Thursday morning at the age of 92.

The body of late President Essebsi will be buried in Al-Zallag cemetery in the Tunisian capital.

The burial will be in a procession that will take place from the presidential palace in Carthage with the participation of heads of state and government from 23 Arab and other foreign countries.

The Tunisian Interior Ministry said that extraordinary measures had been taken to secure the funeral for Essebsi.

Essebsi was born on Nov. 29, 1926, in Sidi Bou Said in the northern suburbs of the capital.

He studied law in Paris until 1950; two years later, he became a lawyer in his home country.

His first involvement in politics dates back to 1941 when he joined the Neo Destour party, a Tunisian political party that was founded by a group of Tunisian nationalist politicians during the French colonisation.

Following the countrys independence from France in 1956, he began to exercise high political responsibilities.

He took over the Tunisian presidency after winning the 2014 elections.

Source: NAN