Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Interior Minister on 28 April 1986 then Prime Minister by President Habib Bourguiba in October 1987. On 7 November 1987, doctors attending to Bourguiba filed an official medical report declaring him medically incapacitated and unable to fulfill the duties of the presidency. Ben Ali, as the next in line to the presidency, removed Bourguiba from office and assumed the presidency himself. The day of his accession to power was celebrated annually in Tunisia as New Era Day. Two of the names given to Ben Ali's rise to the presidency include "the medical coup d'état" and the "Tunisian revolution". Ben Ali
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali the Presidential Palace in Tunis, Ben Ali and close members of his family hastily left and headed to Laouina airport (annexed to the civil airport of Tunis Carthage). The military allowed Ben Ali's plane to take off, immediately after which the Tunisian airspace was closed. The presidential plane headed first to France. But after the plane was denied landing rights on French territory, it directly flew to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Ben Ali and his family were accepted by King Abdullah to live there under the condition that he should keep out of politics. Ben Ali and his family are currently