Tunisia has asked the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to
freeze the assets of ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and members of
his family, the official TAP news agency said Saturday.
A Justice Ministry source told TAP that Tunisia submitted
the requests with the UAE and Qatar on May 3 and May 12 respectively. It gave
no further details.
Caretaker authorities in Tunisia, in an apparent attempt to
assert their authority and gain legitimacy in the eyes of protesters who forced
the transition, have cracked down on vestiges of Ben Ali’s long rule.
Several members of his family and security apparatus as well
as some of his closest allies were detained shortly after the president was
ousted on January 14 and fled to Saudi Arabia.
Anti-corruption groups asked authorities in the neighbouring
UAE in March to take action over possible transfer of assets by Ben Ali and his
family, seeking a safe haven after the uprisings.
Swiss authorities said in April they had found 360 million
Swiss francs ($415.8m) of potentially illegal assets linked to Libya’s Muammar
Gaddafi, 410 million Swiss francs linked to Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak and
60 million Swiss francs linked to Ben Ali.
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