Tunisian govt arrests property of former dictator Ben Ali

TUNIS. February 26. KAZINFORM Tunisia's government of national unity has decided to arrest all the properties of authoritarian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who has been in office for 23 years, and his bank deposits. Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.

As the agency Tunis Afrique Presse said, also expropriated are the possessions of 110 relatives and close friends of the ex-dictator, who had escaped to Saudi Arabia. On this list there are the assets of his three daughters - Halima, Nesrin and Dorsaf, six-year-old son Mohamed, son-in-law Saqr Al-Matri, whom the family saw as a likely successor to the 72-year old dictator, and another 42 relatives and friends of Ben Ali and his wife Leila Trabelsi.

On January 19 the Tunisian judiciary began an investigation into the misappropriation of state property and export of currency abroad by Ben Ali, members of his family clan, as well as a number of confidants. The European Union froze their assets. On January 26 there was issued an international warrant for the arrest of the dictator and his wife. Tunisia calls for their extradition from Saudi Arabia. In Jeddah, the requests have remained unanswered so far. It has been reported that "Ben Ali is in a coma in a clinic after suffering a stroke." Kazinform cites Itar-Tass. See www.itar-tass.com