El Salvador seeks to arrest ex president for alleged embezzlement

SAN SALVADOR - 9 June 2018: El Salvador's attorney general ordered the arrest on Friday of former president for alleged embezzlement and money laundering, in addition to allegedly covering up various illicit acts during his government.

Funes, who has been in exile in Nicaragua since September 2016, is accused of using public funds to pay for trips, home remodeling and hospital bills, among other expenses.

The attorney general also sought the arrest of 29 other people, including relatives of Funes and former officials in his administration.

Funes, a 58-year-old former journalist, governed the poor Central American country from 2009 to 2014 and brought the party formed by a former leftist guerrilla group, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), back to power for the first time following a 1980-1992 civil war.

The former president, who says he is a victim of political attacks orchestrated by businessmen and conservatives, slammed the accusations against him in a series of posts on Twitter on Friday.

"It is noteworthy that the attorney general has only made accusations without presenting a single piece of evidence against me," he wrote. "They don't have records of anything.