Rachid Ammar Service leader colonel El Arbi Ghazali). Ammar was a member of the joint chiefs of staff and was received along with other members of the council by Ali at a ceremony during the summer of 2010. There, Ammar was promoted by Ben Ali from the rank of divisional general to that of corps general. On 25 June 2013, Ammar announced his retirement due to harsh criticisms. On 13 January 2011, Ammar refused to follow the orders of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, then president of Tunisia, to shoot protesters participating in the 2010–2011 Tunisian protests. He responded to the Presidential
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali month of protests against his rule, he was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia along with his wife Leïla Ben Ali and their three children. The interim Tunisian government asked for Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant, charging him for money laundering and drugs trafficking. A Tunisian court sentenced Ben Ali and his wife "in absentia" to 35 years in prison on 20 June 2011 on charges of theft and unlawful possession of cash and jewellery. In June 2012, a Tunisian court sentenced him "in absentia" to life imprisonment for inciting violence and murder and another life sentence by