Speech by President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali before the members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to Tunis Carthage, January 27, 2000 In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate Mr. Doyen, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to meet with you at the start of this new year and of a new century which, we hope, will bring happiness and prosperity to you all as well as to your countries and to the whole mankind. While requesting you to convey my warmest congratulations and very best wishes to the leaders of your countries and your brotherly and friendly peoples, I wish to thank you for your warm feelings toward Tunisia and its people. I would also like to take this opportunity to offer you my heartfelt wishes and warmly thank His Excellency the Doyen for his kind words and noble sentiments. I would like, moreover, to congratulate him on his rise to the rank of Doyen of the diplomatic corps accredited to Tunis, and to express to him, as well as to all the members of the diplomatic corps, my wishes of full success in the accomplishment of their mission for strengthening the ties of brotherhood and friendship among our countries and for consolidating cooperative relations and solidarity among our governments and our peoples. Mr. Doyen, Excellencies, The past year was particularly important in our country's advance toward a better future; a year during which we carried out several political, economic and social reforms, and mapped out the main lines of the strategy which will enable us to start the new century with maximum chances of success, and to implement the will of our people to embark on a new phase of the Change whose options and objectives stem from the concerns and ambitions of the national community. In this undertaking, we are basing our efforts on the country's achievements in the various fields of development, particularly the process of upgrading the national economy toward greater competitiveness in a social context characterized by consensus, dialogue and stability. We are also counting on the efforts we are making jointly with our brothers and our friends to revitalize partnership and spur foreign investment in the interest of all parties and for reinforcing our development process. In our options, we have given absolute priority to employment. We have sought to promote our human potential in terms of the quality of our scientific and technological competences, and of the know-how available in the various sectors, in order to confer on our economy the aptitude to meet the challenges of competitiveness and continuously improve the quality of life in our country. We have reinforced this process by consolidating social consensus, firmly establishing the tradition of dialogue and consultation, and reviving the spirit of solidarity by spreading its culture and translating it into reality on the largest possible scale. Our aim is that this spirit, in its new phase, should encompass the field of employment thanks to the creation of the 21-21 National Employment Fund whose activities started up with the new year. Mr. Doyen, Excellencies, The building of a democratic society is inseparable from the effort of comprehensive development which supplements it. In fact, these are two processes which we have set out to carry out simultaneously with determination and assurance. As a result, we established pluralism within the Chamber of Deputies as far back as 1994 and we consolidated it at the elections of October 1999. We will ensure, moreover, that the forthcoming municipal elections will constitute a new stage in the establishment of this pluralist democratic process. Furthermore, we will continue to extend our support to political parties and papers specializing in political analysis and commentary. Mr. Doyen, Excellencies, Our country which has made human rights, tolerance, moderation, dialogue, cooperation and solidarity so many constant values of its culture and its policy, reaffirms its inflexible will to continue applying these principles at home and abroad. It will spare no effort to contribute toward making peace, concord and understanding prevail in international relations. We will make every effort, in our capacity as member of the Security Council, to apply these values in the settlement of international problems and in the matters of cooperation among states and peoples. Considering the important role of the Security Council in preserving world peace and stability, we will further apply ourselves to enriching the fields of dialogue and consultation regarding the lofty principles that the international community has set itself since the drafting of the United Nations Charter. For our part, we consider that today's major challenges on the international scene include the establishment of peace and security in the world, the strengthening of regional groupings and the consolidation of the mechanisms of cooperation, partnership and solidarity. Hence the pressing need to contain the hotbeds of armed conflicts and civil wars as well as the various sources of tension. In this context, we wish to express our satisfaction and our optimism at the positive developments which are taking place in the Middle East peace process. Moreover, we pay tribute to the United States of America for the positive role it is assuming in this process with a view to reaching an agreement that would guarantee the rights of all parties. We are convinced that the aspirations of the countries of the region to peace, stability and well-being are still dependent on the achievement of a just, comprehensive and durable settlement which would enable the Palestinian people to regain their full legitimate rights, including their right to independent statehood on their national soil with Al-Qods Al-Sharif as capital, and would also enable the brotherly Syrian and Lebanese peoples to recover their occupied territories. On the level of the Maghreb, we express the hope that the embargo imposed against sisterly Libya will be lifted definitively and as soon as possible. We also hope that the Arab Maghreb Union will recover its vitality and that the temporary obstacles impeding its progress will fade away, especially as the building of the Maghreb constitutes a strategic option and a historic aspiration of our peoples. Mr. Doyen, Excellencies, The sufferings of the Iraqi people remain for us a source of deep concern, particularly in view of the concordant indications given by the relevant world organizations concerning the deterioration of the living and health conditions of the brotherly Iraqi people. This should prompt the international community to urgently seek a solution to the problem so that the outstanding humanitarian problems may be settled and all the states and peoples of the region may live in peace, security, and fraternal and constructive cooperation. There is no doubt that time has come to put inter-Arab relations back in order. It is our duty to make up for lost time and to intensify joint Arab action, so as to safeguard the interests of the Arab community, and to consolidate its ability to meet the challenges confronting it. While bearing in mind the encouraging beginnings that emerged through the start of implementation of the Convention relative to the pan-Arab free-trade area, we wish to express our conviction that we still have a long way to go before reaching our set objective. We have, moreover, noted with deep satisfaction the agreement reached between our Qatari and Bahraini brothers for the settlement of their border dispute through dialogue and consultation, as well as their common desire to promote relations between the two countries in furtherance of the interests of the two peoples. We salute this initiative and express the hope that this constructive approach will be generalized and extended to all inter-Arab relations in the interest of our nation and the enhancement of its security, its stability and its prosperity. In addition, we have called, in unison with our brothers His Excellency President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, His Majesty King Mohamed VI, and His Royal Highness the Emir Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, for the early convening of an Arab Summit to enable the Arab States to look into their own situation and bring about the necessary conditions for safeguarding their strategic interests and attaining their common objectives. As to the situation on our African continent, it should prompt the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate the hotbeds of tension, and to support the initiatives taken in reducing the debt which is impeding the development process in several African countries. Regarding the situation in the Caucasus, the tragic developments that have arisen there are deeply disturbing. We therefore launch a pressing appeal to the parties concerned to put an end to military escalation so as to avoid further bloodshed. We urge reason and resort to peaceful means to reach a solution that would end the suffering of innocent civilian populations and respect their right to a peaceful life. Mr. Doyen, Excellencies, We had urged, as far back as 1989, from the rostrum of the United Nations General Assembly, reflection on the conclusion of an international contract for peace and progress, for the building of a better future for the international community. In the face of today's increasingly rapid changes in all fields, mankind needs a pause to launch an appeal to world conscience, revitalize the spirit of cooperation and solidarity, and put into practice the degree of maturity that the human mind has attained but is in contradiction with the massacres and confrontations that sometimes take place and are accompanied by a wastage of potentialities and energy as well as by threats to the environment, with their attendant dangers and blights. Would it not be wiser to direct the sweeping currents of globalization toward universal progress and rapprochement ? It is indeed the duty of the international community to work with clear-headedness and a sense of responsibility in order to remedy the worrying situations that prevail in many regions of the world. Among these, I would mention the rising rate of poverty, the ever-widening gap between the rich and the impoverished, and the increasing unemployment. On this occasion, we reiterate the appeal we had made to the seven most-industrialized countries, the G-7, for the cancellation of part of the debt of poor countries or the partial or total recycling of that debt. Mr. Doyen, Excellencies, We are working for the establishment of a spirit of cohesion and complementarity within the Arab Maghreb Union, the League of Arab States, the Organization of African Unity, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference. In this framework, we are seeking to put into practice the openness of our country to the various other regional organizations, and to contribute to the establishment of understanding and concord at regional and international levels. We are also applying ourselves, on the basis of our belonging to the Mediterranean Basin, and together with our partners on the two shores, to realizing the sustainable development and building a common economic, political, social and cultural area. Our partnership and special relations with the European Union are of utmost help to us in this option which is based on fruitful cooperation and constructive interaction. We are eager to develop and strengthen those relations within the framemork of mutual interests, civilizational interaction, balanced dialogue and understanding in an atmosphere of mutual respect. While partnership constitutes an essential feature of our time, the world is still in urgent need of revitalizing the values of cooperation and solidarity so that the mere interests of immediate profit may not be the only point of reference in bilateral and international relations. The humanitarian organizations as well as the international institutions and structures which were put in place several decades ago to assume this noble task are highly commendable for their solicitude and the assistance they have given to millions of souls in various parts of the world. They all need our constant support and encouragement to go on accomplishing their noble missions in our today's world village. We are confident that the will for good and peace will always triumph. Accordingly, we have made an appeal to world leaders as well as to the various United Nations and other international institutions for the establishment of a World Solidarity Fund which would contribute to settling the problems of poverty and alleviating the effects of hunger and destitution for millions of human beings. We count on their consciousness of the humanitarian purposes that could be fulfilled by such a project, to be favored with their support and positive response to our appeal. Mr. Doyen, Excellencies, The year which has just elapsed will have witnessed a great many meetings and consultations with our brothers and friends the leaders of your countries, whom we welcomed in Tunisia or to whom we paid visits in their respective countries. While expressing my profound satisfaction at the opportunities that those meetings have afforded for dialogue, cooperation and the deepening of ties among our peoples and our governments, we express the hope that the new year will mark the beginning of a better future for the whole mankind, and will enhance their progress and their prosperity. In reiterating my heartfelt greetings, I request you to kindly convey to the leaders of your countries and to your brotherly and friendly peoples, our very best wishes and sincerest expressions of our friendship and our consideration. Thank you for your attention. Speech by President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali before the members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to Tunis (23 January 2003) Speech by President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali before the members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to Tunis (15 January 2002) Foreign Policy Speech by President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (29 January 2001) Adress by President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali at the Ceremony for the Accreditation of New Foreign Ambassadors (13 January 2000) Speech by President Ben Ali at the closing of the annual conference of the heads of diplomatic and consular missions (25 August 99) Foreign Policy Speech by President Ben Ali (28 January 99)