Qatar to expel Bin Ali son-in-law

Tunis: Qatar has agreed to deport the son-in-law of ousted Tunisian strongman Zine Al Abidine Bin Ali who fled to the Gulf state after his father-in-law’s overthrow, the Tunisian president’s spokesman said on Monday.

“At the request of President Munsif Marzouqi... the Emir of Qatar Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani has issued a decree for the expulsion of Sakhr Al Materi,” the spokesman said in a statement.

The announcement came as the Tunisian president travelled to Qatar to take part in a conference on the return of goods stolen from the countries affected by last year’s Arab Spring uprisings.

Said to be Bin Ali’s favourite son-in-law and long seen as a possible successor, Al Materi was sentenced in absentia last year to 16 years in prison and fined 97 million dinars (Dh224 million) for corruption and property fraud.