Tunisia's former president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, arrived in Saudi Arabia after being forced to resign due to a wave of anti-government protests. Reuters news agency reported that Ben Ali and his family had arrived in the port city of Jeddah.
The official Saudi Arabia news agency (SPA) reported that the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia welcomed Ben Ali and his family and expressed their support for the Tunisian people.
A wave of anti-government protests and police violence swept through Tunisia this week and resulted in Ben Ali resigning from his post.
Earlier, the Tunisian Prime Minister, Mohammed Ghannouchi, said he would take temporary power from Ben Ali.
The resignation announcement was made by Ghannouchi through state TV channels.
Ghannouchi, 69, served as finance minister before becoming prime minister in 1999.
Emergency state
The resignation was announced shortly after the declaration of state of emergency and the dissolution of the cabinet and parliament.
Parliamentary elections will be held in the next six months.
Ben Ali - in a statement broadcast on national TV channels Thursday (13/01) - promised not to run again in the 2014 elections.
Ben Ali, 74, is Tunisia's second president since independence from France in 1956. He has been president since 1987 and in the 2009 elections returned to power with about 90% of the vote.
However, his credibility has collapsed since weeks of protests against rising food prices, corruption and unemployment. (BBC)
