Wikileaks [34]: 'Suha Arafat gets Tunisian passport ...'

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 002570
SUBJECT: SUHA ARAFAT ACQUIRES TUNISIAN NATIONALITY
¶1. (SBU) The Government of Tunisia's Official Journal of September 26 published a notice that Suha Arafat, wife of the late Palestinian Authority president, and her 11-year old daughter Zahwa had acquired Tunisian nationality.... recent wire reports on Mrs. Arafat, reporting her alleged marriage to Belhassen Trabelsi, the brother-in-law of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, are false, however, and Mrs. Arafat has been quite vocal in denying them in the press.
¶3. (C) Comment: We remain puzzled as to why Mrs. Arafat would want Tunisian citizenship, and why now, since she already enjoyed the privilege of a Tunisian diplomatic passport, and we doubt that she was eager to exercise her right to vote in Tunisia or become a member of the TunisianNational Assembly. The only other tangible benefit of citizenship is that Tunisian law forbids foreigners to own agricultural land -- and Mrs. Arafat is not known to be an aspiring farmer. One possible motivation is that under Tunisian law, foreign participation in a totally non-exporting service industry cannot exceed 50 percent. Several months ago, Mrs. Arafat set up one such company -- to build an international school in Tunis. Tunisian citizenship will allow her to control this company....In addition, Mrs. Arafat is said to be good friends with the First Lady, Leila Ben Ali.