Ahmed Ounaies

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.

Ahmed Ounaies
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tunisia
In office
27 January 2011 – 13 February 2011
PresidentFouad Mebazaa (Acting)
Prime MinisterMohamed Ghannouchi
Preceded byKamel Morjane
Succeeded byMouldi Kefi
Personal details
Born (1936-01-25) 25 January 1936
Tunis, Tunisia

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. "Tunisian Foreign Minister Resigns" Al Jazeera English. 13 February 2011. Web. 13 February 2011.
  2. Amara, Tarek, and Richard Valdmanis. "CORRECTED-Tunisia Names New Foreign Minister" Reuters.com. Africa Reuters, 21 February 2011. Web. 10 April 2011.
  3. Ben Bouazza, Bouazza (29 January 2011). "Tunisian minister: Egypt must chart its own path". boston.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  4. "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" Archived 2011-02-14 at the Wayback Machine Arab News. 13 February 2011. Web. 13 February 2011.
  6. Amara, Tarek, and Christian Lowe. "Tunisia Calls up Army Reserve to Tackle Violence" Archived 2011-02-12 at the Wayback Machine 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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