THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Leila Ben Ali, the wife of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the deposed Tunisian dictator, says a plot by top security officials ended his long rule, according to a new book.The unpopular 55-year-old, dubbed the "Queen of Carthage" and reputed to have a voracious appetite for power and money, also said she and her husband were ready to return to Tunisia for trial if guaranteed a fair hearing.
In the book, "My Truth", she also admits that the flashy lifestyle of her Trabelsi clan – which had a stranglehold on business in the country – played a large part in ending Ben Ali's 23-year rule in January last year.
Their control over the north African country's economy was vast and they were said to have stakes in banks, airlines, car dealerships, radio and television stations and big retailers.
"Among my own, there were some who exaggerated – often the younger ones who freely indulged in their appetite for profits and refused to set limits," she says in the book, written from interviews given on Skype to journalist Yves Derai.
"These weaknesses and errors of my family were amplified outside and used with the sole objective of bringing down the regime of Ben Ali ... We were the Achilles' heel of the president." » | Source: AFP | Thursday, June 21, 2012
