Leila Trabelsi, the wife of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. Photograph: EPA
DOHA: Qatar’s Attorney General yesterday handed over $28.8m to the Tunisian president in Tunis in his capacity as UN Special Advocate on Stolen Asset Recovery.
This is the first such retrieval of the country’s looted assets held abroad by ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his family. Dr Ali bin Fetais Al Marri, the attorney general, was appointed UN Special Advocate last September.
Al Marri met Tunisian President Mohamed Moncef Marzouki in the country’s capital Tunis yesterday and handed over a cheque for the amount to him, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
Alarabia.net reported that the money had been stashed away in a Lebanese bank in the name of Ben Ali’s wife, Laila El Trabelsi.
It is not known how much Tunisian money has been stashed away in foreign banks by Ben Ali and his family, said Alarabia.net. It is presumed the amount could be several billion dollars.
Marzouki awarded Al Marri the First Class Order of the Republic in recognition of his efforts. He expressed gratitude for Qatar’s efforts to recover stolen assets of his country.
Al Marri said in a brief address that he would continue making efforts to recover assets stolen from countries that have undergone Arab Spring revolutions.
The ceremony was attended by Qatar’s ambassador to Tunisia, Saad bin Nasser Al Humaidi, QNA said.
According to Alarabia.net, Tunisia plans to spend its retrieved wealth on development projects and on creating jobs for tens of thousands of its unemployed youth.
Joblessness remains high in Tunisia and its government is under popular pressure to recover money stashed away in banks abroad by Ben Ali and his family.
According to wire agencies, there are legal and political difficulties in gaining access to accounts where the money is believed held.
The agencies reported that an International Monetary Fund team arrived in Tunis this week to discuss a $1.78bn loan requested by the government.
THE PENINSULA
