Leila Ben Ali, Tunisia\'s power-hungry first lady

Leila Trabelsi, wife of deposed leader Ben Ali Leila Trabelsi, who goes on trial in absentia Monday with her deposed husband Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, was a secretary and hairdresser before becoming Tunisia\'s most powerful -- and maybe hated -- woman .
Widely despised for years before a popular uprising that drove the former first couple from the presidential palace at Carthage, Trabelsi and her family were able to lay their hands on entire sections of the Tunisian economy.
Shortly before taking power in the 1987 coup that toppled Tunisia\'s first post-colonial leader Habib Bourguiba, Ben Ali is said to have told Trabelsi: \"Soon we will be in Carthage\". It is a promise he kept.
After 23 years in power in which they were able to amass a vast fortune, the couple fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14, defeated by a weeks-long popular uprising that cost 300 lives.
Born in 1957 to a dried fruit seller, Trabelsi qualified as a secretary and also worked as a hairdresser and a florist in Paris. Her love of parties reportedly gave her the nickname \"Leila Gin\" after her favourite drink.
Two relationships propelled her towards the heights of power after a three-year marriage to Avis director Khelil Maaouia.
The first was an affair with Farid Mokhtar, a powerful industrialist and brother-in-law of the prime minister at the time, who opened the doors for her to the high society of Tunis.
Then in the 1980s she became the mistress of Ben Ali, 21 years her senior, while he was still interior minister. She became his second wife after he became president in 1999 but held on to her maiden name.
Described as ambitious and ruthless, the woman from a working class suburb of Tunis is called \"The Regent\" in a hard-hitting book by Nicolas Beau and Catherine Graciet that says she and her family systematically snapped up the country\'s assets.
Tunisian disdain towards Ben Ali\'s extended in-law family was referred to in various US diplomatic cables released on WikiLeaks, where they are called a \"quasi mafia\".
\"Tunisians intensely dislike, even hate, First Lady Leila Trabelsi and her family,\" said one.
\"In private, regime opponents mock her; even those close to the government express dismay at her reported behavior.
\"Meanwhile, anger is growing at Tunisia\'s high unemployment and regional inequities. As a consequence, the risks to the regime\'s long-term stability are increasing.\"
Another said: \"Ben Ali\'s wife, Leila Ben Ali, and her extended family -- the Trabelsis -- provoke the greatest ire from Tunisians.
\"Along with the numerous allegations of Trabelsi corruption are often barbs about their lack of education, low social status, and conspicuous consumption.\"
The anger exploded in the riots that toppled the couple, with property of the Trabelsi family attacked and destroyed.
There were claims Leila Trabelsi took tonnes of gold from the central bank before catching a plane to Saudi Arabia, which has not responded to calls for her extradition to face charges of corruption.
Three days after the fall of Ben Ali, his last prime minister Mohammed Ghannouchi said he had the \"impression\" the first lady had started to run the country.
\"This couple were totally sickening. They totally humiliated the Tunisian people,\" president of the International Federation of Human Rights, Souhair Belhassen, told AFP.