Tunisia bid farewell to its first democratically elected president Beji Caid Essebsi on Saturday at a state funeral as the North African nation gears up for snap elections as early as September 15, two months earlier than scheduled. 

Essebsi, who helped guide the North African country's transition to democracy after the 2011 revolution, died aged 92 on Thursday. 

Foreign leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Algerian President Abdelkader Ben Saleh, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and King Felipe VI of Spain attended the funeral in the capital Tunis.

Macron hailed a leader who "in these times of threatening obscurantism... was keen on keeping Tunisia enlightened, tolerant and committed to universal values." 

Parliament speaker Mohamed Ennaceur, who was sworn in as interim president hours after Essebsi's death, paid tribute to the late leader describing him as "the architect of national reconciliation." 

Officers in full uniform carried the coffin draped in the Tunisian flag into a ceremonial room at the Carthage palace packed with dignitaries, placing it on a dais. 

Many roads were closed and security forces deployed in most areas of Tunis and near the Al Jallaz cemetery.

Tunisians lined up the streets leading to the Carthage district, waving flags and chanting the national anthem. 

Essebsi is the first president to receive a state funeral since Tunisia gained its independence from France in 1956 and the government has declared seven days of mourning. 

(Cover: People gather during the funeral for Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi in Tunis, Tunisia, July 27, 2019. /Reuters Photo)

(With input from Reuters, AFP)