Ali Laarayedh
{{Short description|Tunisian politician (born 1955)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Ali Laarayedh
| image = Portrait de Ali Laarayedh.jpg
| office = Prime Minister of Tunisia
| president = Moncef Marzouki
| term_start = 14 March 2013
| term_end = 29 January 2014
| predecessor = Hamadi Jebali
| successor = Mehdi Jomaa
| office1 = Minister of the Interior
| primeminister1 = Hamadi Jebali
| term_start1 = 24 December 2011
| term_end1 = 14 March 2013
| predecessor1 = Habib Essid
| successor1 = Lotfi Ben Jeddou
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1955|8|15|df=y}}
| birth_place = Medenine, Tunisia
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = Ennahda Movement
| spouse = Widad Larayedh
| children = 3
| religion =
| caption = Laarayedh in 2014
| native_name_lang = ar
| native_name = {{nobold|علي العريّض}}
| honorific_prefix = His Excellency
}}
Ali Laarayedh ({{langx|aeb|علي العريّض}}, {{transliteration|aeb|ʿAlī el-ʿArayiḍ}}; born 15 August 1955) is a Tunisian politician who was Prime Minister of Tunisia from 2013 to 2014. Previously he served in the government as the Minister of the Interior from 2011[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/world-leaders-t/tunisia.html CIA World Leaders] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629170645/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/world-leaders-t/tunisia.html |date=29 June 2011 }}{{cite news|url=http://www.tunisia-live.net/2011/12/17/ali-laarayedh/|title=Ali Larayedh|agency=Tunisia Live|date=17 December 2011|accessdate=10 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119091551/http://www.tunisia-live.net/2011/12/17/ali-laarayedh/|archive-date=19 January 2012|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=http://www.tap.info.tn/fr/fr/politique/300-politique/15369--biographie-de-m-ali-laaridh-nouveau-ministre-de-linterieur.html |title=Biographie de M. Ali Laaridh, nouveau ministre de l'interieur |agency=Agence Tunis Afrique Presse |date=24 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606170213/http://www.tap.info.tn/fr/fr/politique/300-politique/15369--biographie-de-m-ali-laaridh-nouveau-ministre-de-linterieur.html |archivedate=6 June 2012 }} to 2013. Following the resignation of Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, Laarayedh was designated as prime minister in February 2013. He is a member of the Ennahda Movement.
Early life
Laarayedh was born in Medenine in 1955.{{cite news|last=Samti |first=Farah |title=Ali Laarayedh Tunisia's New Prime Minister |url=http://www.tunisia-live.net/2013/02/22/ali-laarayedh-appointed-tunisias-new-pm/ |accessdate=24 February 2013 |newspaper=Tunisia Alive |date=22 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130903013639/http://www.tunisia-live.net/2013/02/22/ali-laarayedh-appointed-tunisias-new-pm/ |archivedate=3 September 2013 }}
Political activism
Laarayedh was the spokesperson for the Ennahda Movement from 1981 until his arrest in 1990. After he was harassed by the police under President Habib Bourguiba, he was sentenced to fifteen years in prison under President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, during which time he suffered torture. He was, among other techniques, threatened with HIV transfusion. His wife, Wided Lagha, was sexually abused and videotaped by officials from the Ministry of Interior. After being detained in September 2022, Laarayedh was arrested in December 2022 on accusations alongside others of facilitating the departure of Tunisians to fight with armed rebel groups in the Syrian conflict.{{Cite web |title=Tunisia judge orders arrest of former prime minister |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/12/20/tunisia-judge-orders-arrest-of-former-prime-minister |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}} In May 2025, he was sentenced to 34 years' imprisonment over the charges.{{Cite web |title=Ex-Tunisian PM jailed for 34 Years |url=https://www.africanews.com/2025/05/03/ex-tunisian-pm-jailed-for-34-years/ |access-date=3 May 2025 |website=Africanews |language=en}}
Career
On 20 December 2011, after President Ben Ali was deposed, he joined the Jebali Cabinet as Minister of the Interior.[http://www.leaders.com.tn/article/ali-laarayedh-a-leaders-nul-ne-doit-imposer-au-nom-de-la-religion-un-modele-de-societe-aux-tunisiens?id=8601 Leaders] He vowed to support peace in Tunisia, rejecting religious extremism, tribalism or regionalism. On 22 February 2013, Laarayedh was appointed prime minister after Hamadi Jebali resigned from office. Laarayedh in turn resigned on 9 January 2014.{{cite news|url=http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/01/09/Tunisia-s-Islamist-PM-steps-down-as-unrest-mounts-.html|title=Tunisia's Islamist PM steps down as unrest mounts|agency=Al Arabiya|date=9 January 2014|accessdate=10 January 2014}}
Personal life
Laarayedh is married and has three children. His wife is a medical technician.{{cite news|last=MacFarquhar|first=Neil|title=Leading the Tunisian Agency That Once Jailed Him|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/world/africa/ali-laarayedh-leads-the-tunisian-agency-that-once-jailed-him.html?_r=0|accessdate=24 February 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=25 January 2013}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons-inline}}
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{{s-bef|before=Habib Essid}}
{{s-ttl|title=Minister of the Interior|years=2011–2013}}
{{s-aft|after=Lotfi Ben Jeddou}}
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{{s-bef|before=Hamadi Jebali}}
{{s-ttl|title=Prime Minister of Tunisia|years=2013–2014}}
{{s-aft|after=Mehdi Jomaa}}
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{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=Hamadi Jebali}}
{{s-ttl|title=Secretary General of the Ennahda Movement|years=2013–present}}
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{{s-end}}
{{TunisiaPMs}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laarayedh, Ali}}
Category:People from Medenine Governorate
Category:Prime ministers of Tunisia
Category:Members of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People
Category:20th-century Tunisian politicians