Africa

Tunisia’s President, Essebsi Dies at 92

Published

6 years ago

July 25, 2019

Eric

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, the North African country’s first democratically elected leader, died Thursday at the age of 92, his office said.

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 longtime despot 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 on Thursday.

“Things are not going well,” the leader’s son Hafedh Caid Essebsi told AFP earlier on Thursday after he was readmitted.

Concerned over a potential power vacuum ahead of November polls, politicians and social media users have called for greater transparency about the president’s health since he was hospitalised last month.

Tunisia’s constitution, adopted in 2014, provides two measures in the case of a power vacuum.

The prime minister can take over the president’s responsibilities for a period of no more than 60 days.

If the vacancy is longer, the speaker of parliament is tasked with the role for up to 90 days.

In both cases, the decision must be taken by a constitutional court after it validates the president’s incapacity.

But eight years after the Arab Spring, Tunisia has yet to set up a constitutional court.

In March 2015, jihadist gunmen killed 21 tourists and a policeman at the National Bardo Museum in Tunis.

In June that year, 30 Britons were among 38 foreign holidaymakers killed in a gun and grenade attack on a beach resort near the Tunisian city of Sousse.

And in November 2015, a suicide bombing against a bus carrying presidential guards killed 12, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.

A veteran politician, Essebsi served as an adviser to Habib Bourguiba, the father of Tunisia’s independence from France, holding a number of key jobs under him and later under Ben Ali.

Over the years, Essebsi was director-general of the national police and interior minister. He later held the defence portfolio before becoming ambassador to France.

He became prime minister after the 2011 uprising and organised parliamentary elections later that year.

Essebsi is the founder and chairman of the secularist Nidaa Tounes (Call of Tunis) party.

In April, he said he did not plan to stand for re-election in polls due to be held in November this year in order to make way for someone younger.

Presidential elections are scheduled for November 17, after parliamentary elections which have been set for October 6.

Essebsi has neither rejected nor enacted an amended electoral code passed by parliament in June that would bar the way for several strong candidates in the upcoming polls.

The restrictions would rule out the candidacy of media magnate Nabil Karoui, charged earlier this month with money laundering, who has formed a political party and stated his intention to stand in the poll.

(AFP)

Africa

Nigerian Soldiers Still Trapped in Burkina Faso – Foreign Affairs Minister

Published

1 week ago

December 12, 2025

Eric

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, says the Nigerian soldiers who were on an aircraft that made a forced landing in Burkina Faso are still in trapped in that country.

Tuggar made this disclosure during a press briefing with his Beninese counterpart, Olushegun Bakari, on Thursday at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja.

The Confederation of Sahel States (AES), on Monday, accused an aircraft carrying 11 Nigerian soldiers of violating Burkinabe airspace.

AES is a breakaway West African regional union made up of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic.

The Mali junta leader, Assimi Goita, described the landing as an unfriendly act carried out in defiance of international law.

The AES said it authorised its member states to neutralise any aircraft violating its airspace.

The development came at the same time Nigerian troops carried out air strikes in Benin to help foil a coup.

Commenting on the situation, the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, said the C-130 aircraft was on a ferry mission to Portugal.

Africa

Leader of Failed Benin Republic Coup Reportedly Seeks Refuge in Togo

Published

1 week ago

December 11, 2025

Eric

The leader of a failed coup in Benin Republic, Colonel Tigri Pascal, has reportedly sought refuge in neighbouring Togo.

Soldiers briefly took control of Benin’s State television station on Sunday morning and claimed they had deposed President Patrice Talon, though Benin’s armed forces, backed by Nigerian firepower and French intelligence and logistical support, thwarted the attempt.

The soldiers identified Colonel Pascal as the coup leader, while his whereabouts had previously been unknown.

However, a senior Benin government official told Reuters on Wednesday that the soldier is in Togo.

The government, however, called for Pascal’s immediate extradition.

Togo’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A Benin government statement on Monday said coup plotters attempted to seize Talon, and came close enough for the president to witness violent clashes first-hand.

The statement added that they also managed to kidnap two senior military officials who were released on Monday morning.

A Benin Republic government’s spokesperson, Wilfried Leandre Houngbedji, said on Sunday that 14 people had been arrested in connection with the coup attempt.

Reuters

Africa

Sudanese Military Plane Crashes, All Crew Members Feared Killed

Published

2 weeks ago

December 10, 2025

Eric

A Sudanese military aircraft crashed while attempting to land in the east of the country, killing all the crew, military officials said Wednesday, in the latest plane crash in the war-torn African nation.

The Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane experienced technical failure while attempting to land Tuesday in the Osman Digna Air Base in the coastal city of Port Sudan, two officials said.

They said the crew were killed but didn’t disclose how many personnel were on board. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media.

Among the dead was military pilot Omran Mirghani, according to his uncle, prominent Sudanese journalist Osman Mirghani, who mourned his nephew’s death on social media.

The military didn’t comment on the crash.

Plane crashes are not uncommon in Sudan, which has a poor aviation safety record. In February, at least 46 people, including women and children, were killed when a military aircraft crashed in a densely populated area in Omdurman, the sister city of the capital, Khartoum.

The crash came as the miliary has suffered multiple setbacks in its war against a notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The miliary lost el-Fasher, its last stronghold in the sprawling region of Darfur in October, and earlier this week was forced to pull out from the country’s largest oil processing facility in the central region of Kordofan.

APnews