Tunisia bids farewell to president Essebsi at state funeral.

Mourners and international delegates have gathered at Tunisia’s Carthage Palace to bid farewell to the country’s first democratically elected president Beji Caid Essebsi.

The state funeral was attended by foreign leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Spanish King Felipe VI, Algerian President Abdelkader Ben Saleh, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Thousands of Tunisians lined the streets of the capital, waving flags, as the funeral procession made its way to the palace. Many roads have been closed and security forces deployed in most areas of Tunis and near the Al Jellaz cemetery.

Essebsi, who helped guide the North African country’s transition to democracy after the 2011 revolution, died at 92 on Thursday, July 25.