Former president's wife 'took £37m in gold from Tunisia'

Tunisia's prime minister has appointed opposition figures to a new unity government in the hope of restoring stability after violent street protests brought down the president, as it emerged the former leader's wife had fled the country with gold bars worth about £37.6 million.

• President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali with his wife, Leila Trabelsi, who is accused of taking tonnes of gold bullion out of Tunisia. Picture: AFP/Getty Images

Prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi last night said the government was committed to releasing all political prisoners and would investigate anyone with great wealth or suspected of corruption.

The interior minister said that 78 people had died since the unrest started against the 23-year rule of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

The French intelligence services said that Mr Ben Ali's wife, Leila Trabelsi, ordered the Tunisian central bank chief to hand over the gold bars last week as disorder deepened.

When the bank head initially refused, she begged her husband to authorise the release of the bullion, and he gave in to her demands, French daily Le Monde reported.

After taking possession of the gold, Ms Trabelsi flew to Dubai, then on to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to join her husband, who fled there after being refused permission to land in France, Tunisia's former colonial masters.

A senior French intelligence source told Le Monde: "It seems that the wife of Ben Ali … left with 1.5 tonnes of gold worth €45 million."

Before the prime minister's announcement about the new government yesterday, 1,000 people demonstrated in Tunis, some saying they would not accept members of the fallen president's ruling party in the new coalition because they would block needed reforms.

Mr Ghannouchi is himself a member of the RCD, previously led by Ben Ali, and the party retains a significant presence in the new government.

The prime minister said opposition leaders would have cabinet posts, but the ministers of defence, interior, finance and foreign affairs would keep their jobs in the new government.

He named Najib Chebbi, founder of the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) which opposed Ben Ali, as minister of regional development. Ettajdid party leader Ahmed Ibrahim will be higher education minister and Mustafa Ben Jaafar, head of the Union of Freedom and Labour, becomes health minister.

Mr Ghannouchi said: "We are committed to intensifying our efforts to re-establish calm and peace in the hearts of all Tunisians. Our priority is security, as well as political and economic reform."

In the capital, ordinary Tunisians were sceptical.

Mohamed Mishrgi said: "We do not trust this government because there are the same faces … It's as if Ben Ali's system is still there. It's for that reason the demonstrations are continuing in Tunis. We want a new state with new people."

Hosni Saidani added: "It is difficult to trust these people because they participated in Ben Ali's system but they did not have the courage to say to him, 'Stop'. So how can they make a change towards democracy?"

The profound change in Tunisia in the past few days "is not yet the political reform that many people in that country hope for," UK Foreign Office minister David Lidington said yesterday.

Britain wanted "an orderly move towards free and fair elections and an expansion of political freedom in Tunisia," he said during a Westminster debate.

The speaker of Tunisia's parliament, Fouad Mebazza, sworn in as interim president, had asked Mr Ghannouchi to form a government of national unity. Constitutional authorities said a presidential election should be held within 60 days.