Man in Tunisian jail contacts his family

The Maltese man who is in a Tunisian prison for allegedly trying to traffic 50 kilos of cannabis resin has made contact with his family who, in turn, have spoken to the Foreign Ministry, a spokesman said.

Tano Farrugia, 32, who used to play league football, was arrested by Tunisian police on Sunday afternoon after they searched his hotel room in Nabeul. The cannabis resin was allegedly found during the search.

The ministry found it hard to obtained information about the case. It made several attempts to contact its Tunisian counterpart but had not yet received a reply, the spokesman said.

The spokesman gave no further details about the contacts with Mr Farrugia's family. Tunisian law allows the police to interrogate a suspect for four days without any legal representation, a period that could be extended to 12 days. During that time suspects are only allowed one phone call.

Mr Farrugia is being kept under arrest in Grombalia prison not far from Nabeul, a tourist town located about 40 miles from the country's capital Tunis.

Meanwhile, an Egyptian man was yesterday charged in a Maltese court with conspiring to import and traffic the same cannabis haul.

Ahmed El Fadali Anan, 40, who has lived in Malta for the past 17 years, denied the charges of inciting other people to commit the crime and of possessing the cannabis.