First married to Abbès Guenned, a Belgian of Moroccan descent, she divorced him in 1997–1998, Morocco asked for his extradition, accusing him of drug trafficking (Guenned was stopped on 31 July 1997 at the airport of Zaventem, while being in the possession of a diplomatic passport), a charge which has since been dropped. He was also arrested in Turkey but released after strong influence from the Belgian government. At that time, Onkelinx was presiding over the government of Belgium's French Community. Onkelinx then married barrister . Witnesses to this marriage were both their former husband and wife. In 2003, Guenned became an adviser to Onkelinx' cabinet, charged with the preparation of the election of the Belgian advisory Muslim council, and dealing with town management but, especially, with the communication between the cabinet and the Islamic associations.