Hi peterpine,
I always save my Illustrator files as .eps or .ps files v.8-10 and postscript level 2 for easiest import. I never have any luck importing .ai files. You might also try opening the .ai file in inkscape or xara and save as .svg file, older versions of illustrator also export to .svg but I run into import problems, especially if I used any gradients or pantone colors.
Cheers!
mnawij