Suha Arafat, the widow of the late Palestinian leader, is only wanted by the Tunisian judicial authorities as a witness in a corruption inquiry, according to the Tunisian Ambassador to Malta.

... it’s case closed for the time being

Souag Juedlaoui said that, according to information she got from the Justice Ministry in her home country, Mrs Arafat was wanted as a witness in a corruption inquiry in connection with the founding of the Carthage International School in Tunis.The founding of the school was in cooperation with the then first lady, Leila Trabelsi, wife of ousted President Zine el-Abedine Ben Ali. Ms Juedlaoui said an international arrest warrant had actually been issued against Yasser Arafat’s widow but later the judicial authorities were informed that Mrs Arafat, who has a French nationality, enjoyed diplomatic immunity. She was granted this status as the widow of the former Palestinian leader and as a member of the Palestinian Embassy in Malta.

Mrs Arafat has insisted she has all the documents in hand to prove her innocence

“Mrs Arafat’s lawyers in Tunisia had submitted all the documentation they had, so it’s case closed for the time being,” Ms Juedlaoui said.

When it was pointed out that arrest warrants were not usually issued for people wanted as witnesses, Ms Juedlaoui said she did not know how the system worked.

It was Justice Ministry spokesman Kadhem Zine el Abidine who said last month that a Tunis court had issued the warrant against the 48-year-old widow but gave no reason for the move.Mrs Arafat and Ms Trabelsi fell out over the project with Mrs Arafat explaining that the First Lady wanted to close a competing school so the new school would do well.In her reaction to the arrest warrant reports issue, Mrs Arafat vehemently denied the claims and pinned it down to a dirty character assassination campaign “because the surname Arafat sells”.

She insisted that she had all the documents in hand to prove her innocence. When asked, Ms Juedlaoui denied media reports that she had apologised or spoke to Mrs Arafat over this issue. However, she admitted she had spoken to Mrs Arafat’s brother, Palestinian Ambassador to Malta Jubran Ta-weel, who had asked for more information on the matter. She said she told him it was not a decision taken by the Tunisian Justice Ministry but by the judicial authorities that were autonomous.

The Maltese police have confirmed no extradition request in connection with an international arrest warrant had been received yet, nearly a month since the reports first appeared.