Secret audio sheds light on toppled dictator’s frantic last hours By Emir Nader, BBC News Arabic, 13/14 January 2022 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. These final moments show how his authority crumbled, sealing the fate of his 23-year dictatorship and sparking the region's wave of pro-democracy "Arab Spring" uprisings.... Just after midnight, President Ben Ali's plane lands in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He orders the pilot to prepare for his return trip, and he and his family are escorted to the King Faisal Palace Guest House. But the pilot disobeys the order. He abandons Ben Ali and flies back to Tunisia. Waking in Saudi Arabia the next morning, Ben Ali rings his defence minister again. Grira admits the administration is not in control of what is happening on the streets. He tells Ben Ali that there is even talk of a coup. Ben Ali dismisses this as the action of "Islamists", before once more talking about returning home.... Grira now seems to attempt to level with his boss. "There's anger on the streets in a way that I cannot describe," Grira says. He seems keen to be clear with the president, adding: "So that you cannot say that I misled you, and the decision is yours." Ben Ali tries to defend his reputation. "What have I done to the street? I served it." "I'm giving you the situation, not an explanation" Grira replies.