Tunisia's former first lady donates book sale revenue to charity

Tunisian Laila Ben Ali Yves Derai, director of the French publishing company "Les Moments", and editor of former Tunisian first lady Laila Ben Ali's autobiography "My Truth", said Thursday on Tunisia's Express Radio, that the wife of the ousted Tunisian president had donated her shares in the book's sales revenues to a charity organisation.
Derai, who was interviewed by host Wassim Ben Larbi in the Morning Espresso show, said Leila Ben Ali denied her husband had fled the country, and spoke about a coup against him, prepared mainly by Ali al-Seriati, Commander of the Presidential Guard, and Ben Ali's cousin, the businessman Kamel Latif.
"She also said there was information provided by French intelligence that the presidential guard would be infiltrated by a suicide bomber who planned to commit murder in the presidential family," said Derai.
Derai, who conducted the interviews using Skype, said Laila Ben Ali insisted he commit to recording her words verbatim when he edited the book. He revealed he spoke to her for three hours a day on the online video-chatting service. He said she always wore the hijab while talking to him, which she didn't use to do when her husband, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, ruled Tunisia.
The French editor described the ousted president's health as "excellent", contradictory to earlier reports, noting that the only family member who suffered illness in exile was Ben Ali's son "who couldn't adapt to his new life."
Derai claimes to have observed Laila Ben Ali being respectful to religious worship, stopoing conversations when the Islamic daily prayers would begin. She would only resume once the prayers were over.
According to Derai, the book sheds a light on Laila Ben Ali's claims that her husband was forced to flee the country. The deposed leader had allegedly planned to head to Saudi Arabia for the Umrah pilgrimage, until his guards forced him to board the plane with his family.
He announced that a total of 10,000 copies had been published, out of which 3000 were sent to Tunisia.