'Thieves, tricksters, killers' - people's rage turns on former first lady's rapacious family

The end of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's iron-fisted, 23-year rule has brought joy to many ordinary people in the North African nation - and they were especially elated at the prospect of life without his wife and her rapacious family.

The clan of former first lady Leila Trabelsi, a hairdresser who rose to become Tunisia's most influential woman, was widely despised as the ultimate symbol of corruption and excess. Leila and her ten siblings are said to have operated like a mafia, extorting money from shop owners and demanding a stake in businesses large and small.

Their control over the country's economy was vast. The Trabelsi and Mr Ben Ali's own families were said to have a stake in Tunisian banks and airlines, car dealerships, internet providers, radio and TV stations, industry and big retailers.

And when mass protests forced Mr Ben Ali to flee last Friday to Saudi Arabia, his people's pent-up rage was directed more at Leila's side of the family than at her husband and his authoritarian regime. Retribution was swift. With a day of Mr Ben Ali's departure, many of the villas and businesses belonging to the Trabelsis were pillaged and burned, and some reports said one prominent family member was killed by an angry mob. A Tunis Air pilot who refused to take off with five fleeing family members on board has become a national hero.

"They (the Trabelsis] are thieves, tricksters and even killers," raged Tunis resident Mantasser Ben Mabrouk. "Their only goal was to make money in whatever way they could.

"The president did lots of good, but the family did lots of harm to Tunisia."