Tunisia said Sunday it had officially asked Saudi Arabia to extradite deposed strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali whom it accused of "several serious crimes".
A foreign ministry statement cited by the state news agency TAP said an official request had been sent through diplomatic channels for the extradition of the ousted president, who fled to Saudi Arabia January 14 after weeks of popular revolt against his 23-year regime.
The statement said the caretaker government took the action "following a new batch of charges against the ousted president regarding his involvement in several serious crimes aimed at perpetrating and inciting voluntary homicide and sowing discord between the citizens of the same country by pushing them to kill one another".