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Tunisia has indicated that it is requesting the extradition of Ben Ali's brother-in-law, Zine El Abidine, who has been arrested in France and is wanted at home for fraud.
The Justice Ministry said in a statement Saturday that the Interpol office in Tunis had learned that Belhbaden Trabelsi was arrested Thursday in France.
He indicated that he was facing 17 arrest warrants in Tunisia and 43 international warrants.
Tunisian media reported that the Justice Ministry sent a letter to the French Foreign Ministry Friday urging France to surrender Trabelsi in accordance with bilateral agreements between the two countries.
There was no official confirmation in France of the arrest of Trabelsi.
But a source close to the investigation said that he had been arrested in the south of the country earlier this week for alleged financial offenses. There were no other details.
The millionaire businessman and brother of Ben Ali's wife, Leila Trabelsi, left Tunisia in January 2011 when the uprising of the Arab Spring forced the veteran leader to flee. in Saudi Arabia.
Trabelsi and his family flew to Montreal on a private plane where he applied for political asylum, but Canada rejected his appeal in 2015 and, a year later, while he was on the plane. he was preparing to deport him, he disappeared.
He is wanted in Tunisia where he has led a clan that has embezzled public funds.
In June 2008, a US diplomatic cable that had been leaked had concluded that Trabelsi was "the most notorious family member (Ben Ali) and that he would have been involved in a wide range of corrupt schemes. "
Trabelsi – whose holdings include an airline and hotels – has denied the charges against him, saying he had accumulated his fortune as a successful business leader.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
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