PARIS: French authorities have seized a plane belonging to the family of ousted Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, official sources said Tuesday. The aircraft was seized at Le Bourget airport near Paris, where it had been parked in a hangar for a week, the sources said. It belongs to the Mabrouk family, one of whose members is Ben Ali's son-in-law. The move came a day after Europe's foreign ministers agreed to freeze the assets of Ben Ali and his wife Leila Trabelsi in response to a request from the Tunisian authorities. Several dozen associates of the deposed leader, listed by the new authorities in Tunis, may face similar sanctions in the following days, diplomatic sources said. Tunisia's former leading couple and their inner circle are suspected of having pocketed much of the country's wealth over years and of taking personal stakes in much of the economy. Last week French state prosecutors said they had opened an investigation into the Paris real estate assets of the ousted strongman after three activist groups filed a civil suit against him. They accuse Ben Ali, who fled who fled on January 14 after his people revolted, of corruption, misusing public funds, and money-laundering during his 23-year rule. The French daily Liberation last Monday published a front-page photo of a townhouse in the posh 16th arrondissement of Paris that it said belonged to one of the ex-president's daughters. It published other photos of prime real estate assets in Paris it said belonged to the entourage of Ben Ali, who has sought refuge in Saudi Arabia since being forced out of office last month by a popular revolt. Meanwhile, at least 147 people were killed and 510 wounded during the Tunisian uprising that unseated Zine Al-Abdine Ben Ali last month, the head of a U.N. human rights team in Tunisia said on Tuesday. Bacre Waly Ndiaye told a news conference that 72 people had also been killed in unrest that took place in the country's jails during weeks of protests that began on Dec. 17. Ben Ali fled Tunisia on Jan 14. The interim government that took over has promised to investigate any deaths and injuries that took place during the uprising and to compensate the families affected. Tunisia's former interior minister, replaced in a cabinet reshuffle on Thursday, had said 78 people were killed in the demonstrations. The eight-member U.N. human rights team began work in Tunisia last week. It is helping to investigate any abuses and will offer advice to the government.
