A group of relatives of deposed Tunisian leader Zine Abidine Ben Ali have taken refuge in a hotel at Disneyland Paris, just outside the French capital, a security source told AFP on Saturday.

Ben Ali fled Tunisia on Friday as he and members of his family and inner circle escaped a street uprising against his 23 years of authoritarian rule. He is himself now in Saudi Arabia after France refused to allow him entry.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a French security official said that a group of his relatives accompanied by their own security detail had taken VIP accommodation at the Disneyland resort, which is just east of Paris.

They had been there for "several days" before Ben Ali's flight.