Sakher el-Materi, son-in-law of deposed president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, attended lunch just months before uprising.
Photograph: Tim Rooke /Rex Features
Prince Andrew hosted a lunch for Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali's son-in-law.
The government's special trade representative, Prince Andrew, entertained a leading member of the deposed Tunisian dictatorship at Buckingham Palace just three months before the regime collapsed, the Guardian has learned. Sakher el-Materi, the 29-year-old son-in-law of Tunisia's deposed president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, attended a lunch given for him by the Duke of York. They were joined by more than a dozen executives from British multinationals hoping to win business in Tunisia. Materi has since fled the north African country and is under investigation for money laundering.
The meeting took place as part of the duke's government-appointed role to help broker deals for British businesses overseas, and its emergence will intensify calls for him to step down because of his contacts with controversial figures in the Middle East.
He met Colonel Gaddafi in Tripoli on government trade business in November 2008 and lunched with his cabinet chief, Bashir Saleh, in London in July 2009 after giving a seminar at St James's Palace for the dictator's £5bn Libya Africa Investment Portfolio, which Bashir chairs.
Bashir's assets have now been frozen by the EU and Swiss authorities along with those of other members of Libya's ruling clique. The seminar was carried out for UK Trade and Investment, the government's export promotion arm.
"Nobody should be naive, because international diplomacy involves meeting some dodgy characters, but the charge sheet against Prince Andrew extends way beyond what is acceptable," said Chris Bryant, the former Foreign Office minister who has called for Andrew to be removed. "I just don't think the royal palaces should be exploited in this way."
Robert Palmer, of Global Witness, the anti-corruption charity, said: "It is complete hypocrisy that you have Prince Andrew hosting an individual at Buckingham Palace who is accused of corruption and money laundering. The government spends a lot of time telling us they will tackle corruption while we are simultaneously providing a safe haven for corrupt politicians and their family members."
Buckingham Palace defended the lunch with Materi. "Whatever has happened since, at the time it was a legitimate public engagement," a spokesman for the duke said. "He was expecting to go to Tunis this year as part of a UK Trade and Investment visit and this was a legitimate occasion at which he could meet British business people investing in Tunisia and the vice- chairman of the British-Tunisian chamber of commerce [Materi]."
The spokesman said any engagement by the duke with the Libyan authorities was part of UKTI's programme of events.
The duke carries out hundreds of engagements a year in his role as trade ambassador and regularly meets leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as well as central Asian countries and in the far east. He is seen as a useful way of gaining access to contracts in autocratic regimes where his royal status opens doors.
But Andrew's judgment was further questioned this week after details emerged of his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire convicted sex offender. Virginia Roberts, 17, who claims she was sexually exploited by the Florida businessman and his friends, said she met the 51-year-old duke and it was also claimed that Andrew enjoyed regular massages at Epstein's home where it is alleged masseuses worked for £60 an hour. The duke categorically denies any wrongdoing or impropriety.
Republic, the campaign for a democratic alternative to the monarchy, called on UKTI to investigate the duke's connections.
"It is clear that the continued speculation about the duke's friendships, business interests and professional conduct risks bringing UKTI, the Department for Business and the Foreign Office into disrepute," said Graham Smith, the campaign's executive director, in a formal complaint to UKTI's acting chief executive.
When the duke hosted the lunch for Materi at Buckingham Palace, he had been touted as a possible successor to the Tunisian dictator and had built up a conglomerate of businesses from newspapers to car dealerships to become one of the country's leading businessmen.
But the way he acquired the assets and his brazen displays of wealth, driving an Aston Martin and building lavish villas, fuelled public resentment of the regime which helped to lead to its eventual downfall.
US diplomats reported to Washington that Ben Ali's extended family was cited as "the nexus of Tunisian corruption", according to a cable obtained by WikiLeaks, and when the revolution came, one man ripped out the sprinkler system at Materi's beachside mansion saying: "This is a symbol of everything that was stolen from us."
The EU freeze on his assets is "in respect of the acquisition of moveable and immovable property, the opening of bank accounts and the holding of financial assets in several countries as part of money-laundering operations".
A spokeswoman for UKTI backed the duke, saying he "continues to add value to British trade interests".
She added: "The Duke of York is dedicated, he works hard and is a real asset to supporting UK business, which appreciates his contribution to their success. The Duke of York took up the role of special trade adviser and has no intention of stepping down."
A source of embarrassment
Prince Andrew's 16-year friendship with the convicted sex offender and billionaire businessman Jeffrey Epstein has been a source of embarrassment at Buckingham Palace this week, as it was alleged that Andrew met a 17-year-old girl called Virginia Roberts, who says she worked for Epstein as a paid erotic masseuse.
Pictures of Andrew were published with his arm around Roberts in London and it was alleged that he enjoyed massages from young women while staying at Epstein's Florida home around 10 years ago, although there is no suggestion of any sexual activity.
The scandal has caused some "consternation", according to a palace source, especially as he was photographed in New York with Epstein last December, subsequent to Epstein's conviction for soliciting teenage girls into prostitution. "There is an element of reflection going on," the source said.
©guardian.co.uk
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