Tunis: Tunisia wants to have ousted president Zine Al Abidine Bin Ali and his family arrested and put on trial for theft and currency offences, the justice minister said yesterday. Interpol has been asked to help arrest Bin Ali, his wife Leila Trabelsi and other family members who have fled the country, Lazhar Karoui Chebbi told a press conference yesterday.
Bin Ali fled to Saudi Arabia this month after weeks of violent protests against poverty and corruption forced him out of power after 23 years. "We are asking Interpol to find all those who fled, including the president and this woman, for trial in Tunisia," the justice minister said. Chebbi also said six members of the presidential guard would be put on trial for inciting violence after Bin Ali's departure.
The billionaire brother-in-law of Bin Ali has fled to Canada with his family, local newspapers said yesterday.
Belhassan Trabelsi, the eldest brother of Bin Ali's wife Leila, arrived in Montreal with his wife, children and a nanny aboard a private jet last week, the Globe and Mail and La Presse newspapers said.
The dailies said his status as a permanent resident could make it difficult for authorities to remove him amid calls from the Tunisian expatriate community for his expulsion.
Meanwhile, clashes broke out near government offices in the old city, or Kasbah, where riot police fired teargas at hundreds of demonstrators, mainly teenagers and young men, who threw stones.
Yesterday's protesters appeared to be from the rural hinterland who have been camping out at the government compound. They shouted at the security forces that they were the "police of Leila", a reference to Bin Ali's wife.
Ministers said the interim government, which has struggled to assert itself in the face of protesters' demands to sack the remaining allies of Bin Ali, would be reshuffled later yesterday.
The government remains dominated by former members of the ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) party and the new cabinet lineup will mainly fill posts vacated by five resignations over the past week, Education Minister Tayeb Baccouche said. Another minister said some provincial governors would also be replaced.
The Tunisian General Labour Union announced a general strike yesterday in Sfax, Tunisia's second city and the economic centre.
