Old leader has alleged cruel treatment (7,2,6)

I believe the answer is:

charles de gaulle

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'old leader' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.

'has alleged cruel treatment' is the wordplay.
'treatment' indicates anagramming the letters (letters treated or processed differently).
'has'+'alleged'+'cruel'='hasallegedcruel'
'hasallegedcruel' with letters rearranged gives 'CHARLES DE GAULLE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for charles de gaulle that I've seen is " airport".)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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