Dictator's wife 'ordered bomb attacks in Tunisia'

One of the most reviled first ladies of the Arab Spring has been texting those remaining in her liberated country and encouraging them to act like terrorists, a lawyer claimed today.

Leïla Ben Ali, 54, left Tunisia in January and is now a fugitive wanted by Interpol for a range of crimes including high treason and money laundering.

But at a trial in Tunisia, evidence emerged that she is still in contact with those in her home country, run for 24 years by her tyrant husband, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

His wife, who was known for her lavish lifestyle, is said to have sent texts to sympathisers calling on them to "explode bombs" and "light fires".

The evidence emerged at the Court of First Instance in Tunis, during the trial of Feriani Samir, a senior police official implicated in Mr Ben Ali's crimes.

Samir Ben Amor, Samir's lawyer, told the court: "Text messages were sent to businessmen, politicians and others calling on them to cause disorder and to prevent the transition to democracy." Tunisia became the first nation involved in the Arab Spring to free itself after the Ben Alis fled to Saudi Arabia in January.

Since then there have been numerous bomb and fire attacks across the country, and many had been ordered by Mrs Ben Ali, said Mr Ben Amor. Among the targets were military bases and places of worship, including synagogues.

He suggested that money had been paid to supporters of the toppled regime, with weapons and explosives smuggled to terrorists.

Texts from Mrs Ben Ali were intercepted after inadvertently being sent to pro-democracy supporters, the court heard.

The former hairdresser became a multi-millionaire after marrying Mr Ben Ali in 1992, and came to personify the greed and corruption of Tunisia's dictatorship.

She was said to have left the country with up to £50million worth of gold bars, as well as holding millions more in bank accounts around the world. Many have been frozen, but the couple are still said to have vast resources available to them in their new life in Saudi Arabia, where they are living with their three children.

Tunisia asked Interpol to issue arrest warrants for money laundering and drug trafficking. In June, Mr Ben Ali was sentenced in absentia to 35 years in prison and fined more than £40 million. So far Saudi Arabia has ignored requests for his extradition.