Habib Bourguiba of Dar Slim, held clandestinely in Tunis in October 1948, he was now assisted by three vice-presidents whose goal was to limit the power of the president: Hedi Chaker in Tunis, Youssef Rouissi in Damascus and Habib Thameur in Cairo. Having one to the Egyptian capital to support the national struggle abroad, Bourguiba found himself, four years later, weakened politically and marginalized among the Maghrebi Committee in Cairo, exiled and isolated from Tunisia. Aware of the importance of the struggle inside the country, he decided to regain Tunis on 8 September 1949. When he returned to Tunisia, Bourguiba decided to
Habib Bourguiba Bourguiba was rushed to the Tunis military hospital, following a pneumonitis. His condition deemed critical, he underwent thoracentesis ICU. His health improved, he left hospital on 13 March to get back to his house in Monastir. He died there at officially 96 years old, on 6 April 2000 at 9:50 pm . President Ben Ali, therefore, proclaimed a seven days national mourning while Algeria announced a three days one. Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika stated that Bourguiba was "One of the Maghreb most influential personalities of the 20th century, which Africa and the entire world can boast". Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of