Tunisia sells off Ben Ali's 'ill-gotten gains' – in pictures
Tunisia's finance ministry is seeking to ease its stretched current account by selling off cars, jewellery, furniture, pictures and assorted bling confiscated from the deposed president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his family |
Tunisia faces general strike after Belaid assassination sparks crisis
Protests erupt, prompting fears that country could see the kind of political polarisation it has managed to avoid since Ben Ali overthrowTunisia is facing a general strike on Friday after angry protests triggered by the assassination of an opposition politician plunged the country into its biggest crisis since the revolution two years ago.The UGTT, Tunisia's trade union federation, called the strike in protest at the murder of Chokri Belaid on Wednesday. It will be the first such strike since 1978 and there is now deep uncertainty and anxiety about how events will unfold.Belaid, a secular, leftist human rights lawyer, was shot dead at close range on his way to work in an attack that was condemned by the government, blamed on extremists but claimed by nobody. The assailant fled on a motorbike pillion.The killing has opened up the possibility that Tunisia could now see the kind of political polarisation that it has so far managed to avoid since the overthrow of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in |
Tunisia recovers $28m from wife of deposed president
State news agency says money was in Lebanese bank account belonging to Leila Trabelsi, wife of Zine al-Abidine Ben AliTunisia has recovered $28.8m of "looted assets" from the wife of the deposed president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.The state news agency, TAP, said a cheque had been handed to President Moncef Marzouki by Ali bin Fetais al-Marri, appointed by the United Nations to lead efforts to recover money from leaders overthrown in the Arab Spring.TAP said the money returned to Tunisia had been in a Lebanese bank account belonging to Leila Trabelsi, the wife of Ben Ali who fled to Saudi Arabia with his family in January 2011 after protests ended his 23-year rule.It is the first retrieval of what it calls "looted assets" held abroad by Ben Ali and his family. Local media say billions of dollars acquired corruptly by Ben Ali and his entourage remain unaccounted for, but the exact amount is not known.Tunisia's Islamist-led government is under public pressure to recover the money, but fa |
Tunisia goes on the defensive, two years after overthrowing regime
Coalition led by Islamist party Nahda is facing strong challenges from former Ben Ali allies who argue government is incompetentTwo years on from the day Tunisians overthrew the regime of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, sparking democracy movements across the region, the coalition government headed by the Islamist party Nahda is on the defensive. With little progress on tackling chronic levels of unemployment, it faces an increasingly strong challenge from a new party, Nida Tounes (Tunisian Call), led by Beji Caid Sebsi, a veteran politician who was a key figure in the early years of the Ben Ali regime.Nida Tounes argues that Islamist politicians – many of whom lost years of their lives in jail under Ben Ali – have proved themselves incapable of running a modern state. It also claims to speak for those who fear that Nahda wants to reinvent Tunisian society along Islamist lines.But the party's critics depict it as a wolf in sheep's clothing, and warn that it represents a tradition of autho |
