Suha Arafat, widow of former Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, has had her Tunisian citizenship revoked, according to recent reports by several Arab media channels.
Arafat, widow of former Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, was said to have fled to Malta with her daughter last month. Presidential sources kept Arafat’s hasty departure secret, and the Tunisian government was vague about the reason behind her losing her citizenship.
According to the London based al-Quds al-Arabi, Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali withdrew Arafat's naturalized status in a special decree last week. “The Tunisian citizenship granted to Suha Daoud Tawil, who was born in Jerusalem on July 17, 1963, is to be revoked," the decree stated.
Arafat was granted Tunisian citizenship in September 2006 after having moved there with her daughter following her husband’s death in 2004.
Although the Tunisian government did not state a reason for revoking the citizenship, sources in the local justice system said Arafat lost her "moral and material rights".
The presidential decision to annul Arafat’s naturalized status was speculated to be in connection wit her rumored affair with the president’s married brother-in-law.
Reports of the affair began last summer, when Arafat was said to have secretly married the president’s brother-in-law, Lahasn al-Trabulsi. Arafat vehemently denied the reports, and threatened to take legal action against those distributing them.
Al Quds al-Arabi said the reason for Arafat’s departure was a business dispute with her partners in Tunisia. Neither Arafat, nor the Tunisian government, have confirmed the report.
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