Ahmed Ounaies

Ahmed Ounaies
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tunisia
In office
27 January 2011 – 13 February 2011
President Fouad Mebazaa (Acting)
Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi
Preceded by Kamel Morjane
Succeeded by Mouldi Kefi
Personal details
Born (1936-01-25) 25 January 1936
Tunis, Tunisia

Ahmed Ounaies, also spelled Ahmed Ounaiss, (born 25 January 1936) is a Tunisian politician and diplomat who was Foreign Minister for two weeks in the transitional government established after the 2010–2011 Tunisian uprising. Public pressure forced him to resign a week after controversially praising French Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie, who openly supported Ben Ali and helped deliver tear gas to police forces. He was only in office for two weeks.

His predecessor who was Ben Ali's foreign minister — Kamel Morjane — had also resigned from his post.[1] His successor — Mouldi Kefi — was appointed on 21 February 2011.[2]

Minister of Foreign Affairs

On January 29, after a week of protests in Egypt he said Tunisia and Egypt are different and both must "chart their own course".[3] He also emphasized that Tunisia in not going to involve itself in Egypt.[3]

Controversy and resignation

In his trip to Paris,[4] he angered many Tunisians by stating he had always dreamed of meeting French Foreign Minister Alliot-Marie.[2] He went on to praise her by stating she was "above all a friend of Tunisia".[4][5] In Tunis, about 300 employees of the foreign ministry staged a protest rally outside their workplace to demand that he step down after his comments.[6] Hundreds more joined the protest.[1]

After only two weeks as foreign minister, he resigned on 13 February 2011.[1][7]

Honours

  • 2018 : Grand officier of the National Order of Merit of Tunisia[8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Tunisian Foreign Minister Resigns" Al Jazeera English. 13 February 2011. Web. 13 February 2011.
  2. 1 2 Amara, Tarek, and Richard Valdmanis. "CORRECTED-Tunisia Names New Foreign Minister" Reuters.com. Africa Reuters, 21 February 2011. Web. 10 April 2011.
  3. 1 2 Ben Bouazza, Bouazza (29 January 2011). "Tunisian minister: Egypt must chart its own path". boston.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Tunisia names new foreign minister". Saudi Gazette. Agence France-Presse. 10 April 2011. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  5. ↑ "Tunisia Foreign Minister Steps down" Arab News. 13 February 2011. Web. 13 February 2011.
  6. ↑ Amara, Tarek, and Christian Lowe. "Tunisia Calls up Army Reserve to Tackle Violence" Reuters.com. 7 February 2011. Web. 8 February 2011.
  7. ↑ Démission du ministre des affaires étrangères tunisien
  8. ↑ "Les ambassadeurs Ounaies, Khemiri, Bach Tobji, Kahloun et Faouri décorés par le président Caïd Essebsi". 2018-07-31.
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