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Newsday: 14/01/2022 06:06 GMT : Secret phone calls shed light on Tunisia’s Ben Ali’s last 48 hours

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14/01/2022 06:06 GMT 

14/01/2022 06:06 GMT : Secret phone calls shed light on Tunisia’s Ben Ali’s last 48 hours

Secret phone calls shed light on Tunisia’s Ben Ali’s last 48 hours

BBC World Service - Newsday, Secret phone calls shed light on Tunisia’s Ben Ali’s last 48 hours

As protests rocked Tunisia, aides urge the former president to stay away from the country

As protests rocked Tunisia, aides of the former president urge him to stay away from the country

The BBC has obtained extraordinary recordings which we believe to be of phone calls made by a former Middle East dictator, Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, as he flew out of the country in 2011. The recordings give an insight into the change in Ben Ali's mood in the last 48 hours of his regime, as he slowly begins to grasp the true impact of protests rocking his feared police state.

The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, is under further pressure following new allegations of parties held at Downing Street in breach of Covid rules. The alleged gatherings took place on the eve of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth's husband, Prince Philip, during which she was seen sitting alone because of coronavirus measures.

And could a rapprochement finally be on the cards between Armenia and Turkey after 30 years of frosty relations?

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14/01/2022 06:06 GMT : Secret phone calls shed light on Tunisia’s Ben Ali’s last 48 hours

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