Leila Ben Ali Says Plot by Security Officials Ended Husband's Rule
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

Tunisia's Zine el Abidine Ben Ali Gets 20 Years for Incitement to Murder
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A military court in Tunisia sentenced ousted president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali to 20 years imprisonment in absentia on Wednesday on various charges including incitement to murder, the TAP news agency reported.

Ben Ali, who is exiled in Saudi Arabia, was found guilty of "inciting disorder, murder and looting," the court said in its verdict over the deaths of four youths, shot dead in the town of Ouardanine in mid-January 2011.

Four protesters were shot dead in the eastern coastal town as they tried to prevent the flight of Ben Ali's nephew Kais, a day after the strongman himself flew out of the country on January 14. » | Source: AFP | Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Tunisian Salafi Islamists Riot, Clash with Police
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: TUNIS (Reuters) - Hundreds of Salafi Islamists attacked bars and shops and clashed with security forces in a Tunisian town on Saturday in the latest incident to raise religious tensions in the home of the Arab Spring uprisings.

Police and witnesses in the northwestern town of Jendouba [F] said hundreds of Salafis - followers of a puritanical interpretation of Islam - began rioting to protest the arrest of four men in connection with previous attacks on alcohol vendors.

Police responded with tear gas, breaking up the crowd, but clashes had yet to die down, witnesses and police said.

"This morning, four men were arrested in connection with attacks on alcohol vendors in recent days," Interior Ministry official Lutfi al-Haydari told Reuters.

"So hundreds of Salafis attacked the security base, pelting it with rocks and petrol bombs before they were dispersed by tear gas. They also set fire to a police station and attacked three shops in the town ... they are now in the centre of town and are being dealt with." » | Tarek Amara, Reuters | Saturday, May 26, 2012

Tunisia Denies Entry to Moroccan Salafists
MAGHAREBIA: Salafists protested at Tunis-Carthage Airport as security expelled two fundamentalist theologians.

Tunisian authorities on Tuesday (May 15th) deported two radical Moroccan preachers with alleged ties to al-Qaeda.

Salafist preachers Hassan Kettani and Omar Hadouchi were accused of trying to enter the country illegally. Both were banned from Tunisia after receiving 20-year prison sentences for indoctrinating the Islamists who committed the deadly 2003 Casablanca attacks, according to the Tunisian interior ministry.

They travelled to Tunisia for a 15-day visit to present a series of lectures on behalf of the salafist Dar as-Salam Association for Charity and Sharia Sciences in Bizerte, but security intercepted them at the Tunis–Carthage Airport.

Though they both received royal pardons from Morocco in February, the Tunisian interior ministry cited "their involvement in terrorist acts and belonging to al-Qaeda" as reasons why they were denied entry to the country.

Neither the two jihadist theologians nor the organisation from which they received the invitation admitted to doing anything wrong. » | Houda Trabelsi for Magharebia in Tunis | Friday, May 18, 2012

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Tunisian Court Levies Fine on Persepolis Cinema Owner

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A Tunisian court on Thursday imposed a 2,400-dinar (£1000) fine on a media boss over blasphemy charges after a trial that deepened the divide between Islamists and secularists.

Nabil Karoui was charged over the decision by his Nessma television station to broadcast the award-winning animated film "Persepolis."

The film, about a girl growing up in Iran, includes a scene depicting Allah, which is forbidden in Islam. an escalating series of protests against the station's broadcast of "Persepolis" on October 7.

The globally acclaimed animated film on Iran's 1979 revolution offended many Muslims because it depicts an image of God as an old, bearded man. All depictions of God are forbidden by Islam.

Earlier on Friday, police fired tear gas at some demonstrators as some of the protests against the station degenerated. » | Telegraph Foreign Staff | Thursday, May 03, 2012

Tunisia Chief Backs Conviction for Islam Insult
BOSTON GLOBE: TUNIS, Tunisia—Two men have been convicted and sentenced to prison in Tunisia for posting Facebook images of the Prophet Muhammad in a compromising position, a court decision that drew support Friday from the presidency of this once staunchly secular country.

Jaber Majeri and Ghazi Jribi were convicted on March 28 by a Tunisian court for "insulting the sacred" after they posted images of the prophet purportedly being intimate with one of his wives, Aisha. They were each sentenced to seven and a half years in prison and fined $800.

The verdict, which was made public Thursday, has been condemned by some as an attack on freedom of expression and a mark of the rising tide of religious conservatism in the country since a popular uprising ousted a dictator a year ago.

Since the fall of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, a moderate Islamist party Ennahda won elections in October but has promised not to enshrine Islamic law in the new constitution. That has put it at odds with a vocal minority of hardline Muslims known as Salafis.

Tunisian society has become polarized between those demanding more religion in public life and those who want to preserve secular traditions. » | Bouazza Ben Bouazza | Associated Press | Friday, April 06, 2012

Tunis Reopens Ancient Islamic College to Counter Radicals

REUTERS.COM: Watched by residents of the old quarter of Tunis, a court official stepped forward and unlocked the huge wooden doors. From the gloom within, volunteers began to bring out stools and chairs that had gathered dust and cobwebs for half a century.

The school at Tunisia's 8th-century Zaitouna Mosque, one of the world's leading centers of Islamic learning, was closed by independence leader and secularist strongman Habib Bourguiba in 1964 as part of an effort to curb the influence of religion. Its ancient university was merged with the state's Tunis University.

The college reopened its ancient doors to students on Monday, part of a drive by religious scholars and activists to revive Zaitouna's moderate brand of Islam, which once dominated North Africa, and counter the spread of more radical views.

"The return of this religious educational beacon is very important in light of the increased religious extremism that we are living with," said Fathi al-Khamiri, who heads a pressure group that obtained a court order allowing the school to reopen.

"The aim is to restore Zaitouna's educational and religious role in Tunisia and North Africa in order to spread the principles of moderate religion."

Zaitouna once rivaled Egypt's Al Azhar as a centre of Islamic learning, and during the golden age of Islam generations of leading Islamic thinkers studied logic, philosophy, medicine and grammar as well as theology within its walls.

That rich tradition had already begun to atrophy by the time Bourguiba became president in the 1950s. In recent decades, radical religious ideas have spread across the Middle East, partly in response to a perceived attack on Islam by the West. » | Tarek Amara | Writing by Lin Noueihed; editing by Tim Pearce | Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Tunisia Says Constitution Will Not Cite Islamic Law

THE NEW YORK TIMES: CAIRO — Tunisia’s ruling Islamist party, Ennahda, said on Monday that the country’s post-revolution constitution would not mention Islamic law as a source of legislation, signaling a forceful break with ultraconservatives who have been demanding an Islamic state.

Instead, a drafting committee will preserve language in Tunisia’s current constitution that refers to Islam as the state’s religion and Arabic as its language, according to Said Ferjani, a member of the political bureau of Ennahda, the Islamist party that leads Tunisia’s government.

He and other Ennahda leaders framed the decision as a bid to unify the country’s disparate political factions during a delicate political transition. “There is a huge consensus within Ennahda. We have to show leadership,” Mr. Ferjani said. “We want everyone to get involved.” » | Kareem Fahim | Monday, March 26, 2012

Tunisian Islamists Step Up Demand for Islamic State

REUTERS.COM: Thousands of Tunisian Islamists took to the streets on Sunday to step up their demands for the creation of an Islamic state in one of the most secular Arab nations.

About 8,000 conservative Salafi Islamists filled the capital's Habib Bourguiba Avenue, a focal point of the 2011 revolution that sparked uprisings across the Arab world.

Waving black flags, they shouted slogans demanding that Islamic law, or sharia, be defined as the main source of legislation in Tunisia's new constitution.

"This is not a show of force, but they should know that we can mobilize hundreds of thousands on the streets if they refuse the application of sharia," said a young man who gave his name as Abu Jihad.

"We are in a Muslim country, so the talk about Islam in the constitution should not be feared." » | Tarek Amara | TUNIS | Sunday, March 25, 2012

Protest Calls for Islam-based Tunisia Constitution
BOSTON.COM: About 8,000 Islamists have demonstrated outside Tunisia’s constitutional assembly calling for a charter based on Islamic law.

The crowd, mostly bearded men and heavily veiled women, called on Friday for the assembly charged with writing the country’s new constitution to apply Islamic law to Tunisia, a country once known for its secular traditions. » | Friday, March 16, 2012

Tunisian Islamists Spark Fear of Culture War
ASSOCIATED PRESS: TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Every Friday, bearded men in shin-length robes demonstrate in Tunisia's capital against perceived insults to Islam in a country once known for its aggressive secularism. They have occasionally turned violent, attacking secular intellectuals and harassing women for their style of dress.

This emerging movement of believers known as Salafis has seemingly appeared out of thin air — and prompted fears of a culture war in this North African country of 10 million.

Since the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011 unleashed a string of Arab uprisings, Islam has blossomed in Tunisia in a way it wasn't allowed to do for half a century.

New religious freedoms have also opened the way for the Salafis, who are now in a daily battle for hearts and minds with equally hardline secular elements entrenched in the media and the elite. Television stations, Western embassies and government offices have all felt the conservatives' wrath. » | Paul Schemm | Associated Press | Friday, March 09, 2012

Meet the New Arab Face of Lancôme
AHLAN!: We've got the skinny on model Hanaa Ben Abdesslem, the brand's latest spokesperson in the region

She’s been making waves across catwalks in the fashion capitals of the world, and now model Hanaa Ben Abdesslem is part of a beauty legacy that channels her regional connection. Maison Lancôme has just announced that the Tunisian model is their new Arab brand spokesperson.

Hanaa, who made her modelling debut with Vivienne Westwood in 2010, has since walked for other top names including Jean Paul Gaultier, Giambattista Valli, Ralph Lauren, Oscar de la Renta. Her fash[ion] credentials have only gotten stronger after appearing in French, Italian and German Vogue as well as the covers of Intermission and V. » | Nazia Khan | Tuesday, January 17, 2012

VOGUE.fr: Hanaa Ben Abdesslem pour Lancôme : A tout juste 22 ans, la top d’origine tunisienne Hanaa Ben Abdesslem est la nouvelle égérie Lancôme. Castée par Vogue Paris en mars 2011 pour un sujet beauté, depuis la belle a été de plus en plus remarquée sur les podiums ; De Givenchy à Jean Paul Gaultier en passant par le show Haute Couture Giambattista Valli. En exclusivité, voici le film de son premier shooting pour Lancôme. » | Par Christelle Paillard | sans date


MAIL ONLINE: ‘I Plan to Change Misconceptions’: Tunisian Model Is First Ever Muslim Face of Lancôme » | Maysa Rawi | Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Moderate Islamist Party Declares Victory in Tunisia Elections

LOS ANGELES TIMES: REPORTING FROM TUNIS, TUNISIA -- Tunisia’s moderate Islamist party appeared to win elections for an assembly to draft a constitution Monday, a sign of religion’s growing influence over politics in the country that inspired uprisings across the Arab world.

The apparent victory by Nahda is certain to resonate throughout the region, especially in Egypt where the Muslim Brotherhood is expected to post a strong showing in parliamentary elections next month. Nahda’s ascent from banned organization to popular force indicates that an emerging political Islam may replace decades of rule by secular autocrats.

That prospect indicates that much of the Middle East and North Africa regard Islam and politics as indivisible, a dynamic that has upset liberals in battles over civil rights and what styles of governments will rise from the so-called Arab Spring. Nahda has consistently promised that it is committed to pluralism and tolerance but its opponents claim it masks a more conservative agenda. » | Monday, October 24, 2011

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Triumph der Islamisten alarmiert Diplomaten: Islamisten haben die ersten freien Wahlen Tunesiens gewonnen, in Libyen will der Übergangsrat die Scharia einführen. Westliche Diplomaten warnen vor einer Radikalisierung Nordafrikas, Liberale fürchten Kopftuchzwang und Alkoholverbot. Den Arabischen Frühling hatten sich viele anders vorgestellt. ¶ Tunis/Bengasi - Die Signalwirkung ist enorm: Die Wahlen in Tunesien sind die erste freie Abstimmung nach dem Arabischen Frühling - jener Protestwelle, die vor knapp einem Jahr eben dort ihren Anfang nahm. Nun zeichnet sich ein deutlicher Wahlerfolg der Islamisten ab. » | fab/heb/dpa/Reuters | Montag 24. Oktober 2011

Tunisia Extremists Firebomb Home of 'Blasphemous' TV Station Head
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Tunisian extremists firebombed the home of a TV station chief Friday, hours after militants protesting its broadcast of a film they say violated Islamic values clashed with police in the streets of Tunis.

About a hundred men, some of whom threw Molotov cocktails, lay siege to the home of Nabil Karoui, the head of the private television station Nessma late on Friday, the station reported in its evening news bulletin.

Karoui's family had only just escaped, the news presenter said.

Sofiane Ben Hmida, one of Nessma's star reporters, told AFP the station chief was not at home when the attack on his house took place at around 7:00pm (1800 GMT). But his wife and children were.

About 20 of the protesters had managed to get inside.

"The family managed to get out the back and are safe. The attackers wrecked the house and set it on fire," he added.

Interior ministry spokesman Hichem Meddeb told AFP around a hundred people had turned up outside the house, forced their way inside, broken the windows and torn out two gas pipes. Five people had been arrested, he added.

This was the most serious incident yet in an escalating series of protests against the station's broadcast of "Persepolis" on October 7.

The globally acclaimed animated film on Iran's 1979 revolution offended many Muslims because it depicts an image of God as an old, bearded man. All depictions of God are forbidden by Islam. Read on and comment » | Saturday, October 15, 2011

LE FIGARO: Troubles autour du film Persepolis en Tunisie : Des milliers de personnes ont manifesté vendredi pour dénoncer la représentation de Dieu sous les traits d'un vieillard barbu. Dans la soirée, le domicile du PDG de la chaîne qui a diffusé le film a été attaqué. » | Par lefigaro.fr | Samedi 15 Octobre 2011

Tunesien vor der Wahl: Der nette Islamist von nebenan

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Tunesien steht vor den ersten freien Wahlen - wahrscheinlich siegt die Islamistenpartei Nahda. Ihre Mitglieder wurden während der Diktatur brutal verfolgt, heute hat die Partei Geld, gibt es für Soziales und Bildung aus. Trotzdem fürchten viele im Land eine religiöse Wende nach rechts.

Er strahlt, er scherzt, er hat heute noch viel vor: "Gleich gehe ich mit meinen beiden Söhnen einkaufen, neue Hemden und Hosen für das Eid-Fest zum Ende des Ramadan", sagt Abderrahim Khelifi in der Lobby des Afrika-Hotels in Tunis.

Draußen schieben sich Tausende durch das Herz der tunesischen Hauptstadt: Beim arabischen Pendant zu den Weihnachtseinkäufen wird gedrängelt und gefeilscht, den Kindern gehen die Augen über, den Eltern geht es ans Portemonnaie. Vor allem aber liegt diese besondere Feiertagsstimmung in der Luft, die Khelifi mit in die düstere Hotellobby gebracht hat. "Das wird das beste Fastenbrechen, das wir jemals hatten", freut sich der 52-Jährige.

Was für eine Verwandlung: Vor acht Monaten war Khelifi ein gebrochener Mann. Da hatte er sich vor den Straßenschlachten, die auf dem zentralen Burghiba-Boulevard zwischen Demonstranten und Polizei tobten, in ein Reisebüro geflüchtet. Hager wirkte er und müde, stockend erzählte er seine Lebensgeschichte: Wie die Herrschaft von Zine al-Abidine Ben Alis alle seine Träume zerstörte. Wie er, der Wirtschaftswissenschaftler, nicht mal mehr als Grundschullehrer arbeiten durfte. Wie er gezwungen war, sein Leben lang nur Hilfsarbeiten auf dem Bau zu erledigen. Davon, wie er als in der Wolle gefärbter Anhänger der islamistischen "Nahda"-Partei Jahre lang im Gefängnis saß, wie er gefoltert wurde - und wie schwer all das für seine Frau war. » | Aus Tunis berichtet Ulrike Putz | Samstag 17. September 2011

Tunisia's Zine el Abidine Ben Ali Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Zine el Abidine Ben Ali has been sentenced in absentia to 15 years in jail for possession of arms, drugs and archaeological artefacts.

In his second trial, Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia following a popular uprising in Tunisia in January, was also sentenced to a fine of 54,000 euros (£49,000).

The trial before a Tunis court had been scheduled to take place last week but was postponed due to a judges' strike.

The former strongman and his wife Leila Trabelsi had already been sentenced in their absence last month to 35 years in prison for misappropriating public funds after large sums of cash and jewellery were discovered in a police search of their palace.

In Monday's trial, Ben Ali alone was accused of harbouring drugs and weapons at his palace in the Carthage neighbourhood north of Tunis. He also faces a drug trafficking charge. » | Monday, July 04, 2011

Tunisian Migrants in Italy Struggle to Find Jobs
Since the beginning of Tunisia's revolution last year, more than 24,000 Tunisians have flooded into Italy looking for better economic conditions.

Most arrive by boat at the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, where many are then granted short term permits to work in Italy.

But finding jobs once they arrive can often be a struggle.

Al Jazeera's Casey Kauffman reports from Rome.

Ben Ali Sentenced to Prison Term
A Tunisian court has sentenced former president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his wife to 35 years in prison.

They have been found guilty of theft and unlawful possession of cash and jewelry.

Al Jazeera's Mariana Sanchez reports.


Related »

Tunisia's Former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and His Wife Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A Tunisian court on Monday sentenced ousted president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his wife, in absentia, to 35 years in jail each after finding them guilty of theft and unlawful possession of cash and jewellery.

Reading out the verdict and sentence in the courtroom after just one day of deliberation, the judge also ruled Ben Ali and his wife would have to pay fines totalling 91 million Tunisian dinars (£40.6 million).

The judge said the verdict on other charges, relating to illegal possession of drugs and weapons, would be pronounced on June 30.

Ben Ali, who is in exile in Saudi Arabia, is being tried in absentia at the Tunis criminal court.

The court is hearing two embezzlement, money laundering and drug trafficking cases against the 74-year-old. It follows the discovery of around $27 million in jewels and cash plus drugs and weapons at two palaces outside Tunis after he flew to Saudi Arabia on Jan 14.

Saudi Arabia did not respond to an extradition request, and some Tunisians expressed frustration that he would not be present for his judgment.

Ben Ali vigorously denied the charges in a statement through his French lawyer, calling the proceedings a "shameful masquerade of the justice of the victorious." » | Monday, June 20, 2011