Wednesday January 19 2011
Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali, the ex-president of Tunisia, has been sent to live in a conservative southern province of Saudi Arabia known for its links to al-Qaeda, according to reports.
Mr Ben Ali flew to the Red Sea city of Jeddah on Friday night after being refused permission to land in France, Tunisia's former colonial master.
He stayed briefly there and is even rumoured to have paid a brief pilgrimage to nearby Mecca. But according to local reports, he has now been found somewhere to stay 300 miles to the south in Abha, the capital of Asir province, which neighbours Yemen.
Although Saudi al-Qaeda members come from all over the country, a high proportion come from relatively conservative, economically underdeveloped provinces such as Asir, including several of the 9/11 attackers. In a recording, Osama bin Ladenlater said of them: "Asir's tribes formed the lion's share."
Said al-Shehri, deputy commander of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, is from Khamis Mushayt, not far from Abha.
That Mr Ben Ali, who banned Islamist parties and was well known for high-living, has been granted asylum by puritanical Saudi Arabia is already subject of a number of jokes in the Arab world.
According to Mustafa Alani, an analyst based in Dubai with good Saudi connections, he has been allowed to stay in Saudi Arabia on condition he takes no part in politics and does not speak to the medi
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