20110601
Reuters
TUNIS (Reuters) - Qatar has frozen assets belonging to deposed Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his family, a spokesman for the Tunisian Justice Ministry said on Tuesday.


Ben Ali ruled Tunisia for 24 years until he was ousted in January by a popular movement which sparked copycat uprisings across the Arab world.

Ben Ali's son-in-law Sakher Materi fled to Qatar after the fall of the government. Other members of the Ben Ali family live in the United Arab Emirates and in Canada.

"Qatar has issued an order to freeze the funds and assets of the deposed president and his wife in response to a letter from the Tunisian minister of justice," Kathem Zine el Abidine, a ministry spokesman, told a news conference.

Tunisia's Justice Ministry also said it was confident that Saudi Arabia, which has been sheltering Ben Ali after he was toppled, would respond positively to its requests for the freezing of Ben Ali's assets there and his extradition.

"Tunisia has confidence that our brother country will give back the stolen money and Ben Ali to Tunisian justice," Abidine said.

Tunisia is seeking Ben Ali's extradition to face charges stemming from a violent crackdown on protesters.