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 the Presidential Palace in Tunis, Ben Ali and close members of his family hastily left and headed to Laouina airport (annexed to the civil airport of Tunis Carthage). The military allowed Ben Ali's plane to take off, immediately after which the Tunisian airspace was closed. The presidential plane headed first to France. But after the plane was denied landing rights on French territory, it directly flew to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Ben Ali and his family were accepted by King Abdullah to live there under the condition that he should keep out of politics. Ben Ali and his family are currently