Deposed Tunisian President is in coma in Saudi hospital according to press reports

Deposed Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is "in a coma" in a Saudi hospital following a stroke, a family friend told AFP on Thursday.
  
The 74-year-old former leader slipped into a coma "two days ago" while being treated in a Jeddah hospital after suffering a stroke, according to the friend. "He had a stroke, and his condition is serious," he said.
  
Ben Ali and his family fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14 after a popular uprising ended his 23-year grip on power in the north African country.
  
Earlier, a spokesman for the interim government that replaced Ben Ali's regime would neither confirm nor deny the reports that the ex-president was in hospital.
  
Tunisia's Le Quotidien newspaper reported Thursday that Ben Ali had suffered a stroke.