Leïla Ben Ali Leïla Ben Ali Leïla Ben Ali (, née Trabelssi; born 24 October 1956) is the wife of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who was President of Tunisia from 1987 to 2011. She married Ben Ali in 1992. Leïla Ben Ali was the president of the Arab Women Organization and chair of the Basma Association, a charitable organization working to secure employment for the disabled. In July 2010, Mrs. Ben Ali founded SAIDA to improve care for cancer patients in Tunisia. During the Tunisian revolution in 2010–11, she fled with her husband and three children into exile in Saudi Arabia. During
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali attaché in Tunisian embassy of Morocco and Spain before being appointed General Director of National Security in 1977. In April 1980, Ben Ali was appointed ambassador to Poland, and served in that position for four years. He also served as the military intelligence chief from 1964 to 1974 and later Director General of national security between December 1977 and 1980 until he was appointed as Minister of Defense. Soon after the Tunisian bread riots in January 1984, he was reappointed director-general of national security. Ben Ali subsequently served as Minister of State in charge of the interior before being appointed