In the second part of Correspondents’ interview with Tunisia’s Foreign Minister Mongi Hamdi, the interim minister reiterates the urgent need for stability in Libya, as the neighboring countries’ fates are inexorably linked. In the second part of Correspondents’ interview with Tunisia’s Foreign Minister Mongi Hamdi, the interim minister reiterates the urgent need for stability in […]

The Tunisian government, for the first time ever, has sent a warning letter to Hizb ut-Tahrir—an extreme Islamist party banned in most Arab countries— because of its continuous call for the creation of a caliphate in Tunisia and for demanding the application of Islamic law. Correspondents met with Ridha Belhadj, the head of the party, […]

Thousands of families fleeing the hell of the Libyan conflict are finding an idyllic refuge in the beach resorts of south Tunisia. Some 5,000 Lybians are pouring into tourist destinations like Djerba island, cramming hotels to capacity and presenting locals with countless business opportunities. But a slew of resulting logistical and security problems overshadows the […]

Foreign Minister Mongi Hamdi, a former United Nations official, may not appear often the  media, but he is considered amongst Tunisians to be one of the pillars of President Mahdi Jumaa’s interim government. In this exclusive interview with Correspondents, Minister Hamdi details the events threatening Tunisia’s stability, particularly the chaos breaking out in neighboring Libya […]

Fifty-two-year-old Ahmed Awad recently sat with thousands of other Egyptians in Gabes-Matmata Airport (470 km southeast Tunisia) waiting for a meal to be distributed by the Red Crescent.  Awad checked his passport repeatedly—he was afraid he might lose it, just as he had lost his bag at Ras Ajdir border crossing (600 kilometers in southeastern […]

His friends describe him as Tunisia’s political fox; his enemies say he is lucky. Former foreign minister under ousted President Ben Ali, Kamal Morgan has been able to transform his persona from despised politician to praised presidential hopeful. Last month Ennahda head Rached Ghannouchi said he would not rule out the possibility of choosing Morgan, […]

 For the second time in a row, the High Independent Election Commission (HIEC) has extended the registration for this November’s elections until the end of August. The second extension came as a response to the weak voter registration turnout compared to the expected number of voter registrants by July 23, the original final date for […]

The collective Tunisian memory still recalls the restrictions placed on the freedoms of expression and on the media in the 1990’s as well as in the 1960’s.  In those days, and under the pretext of protecting national security and the war against an enemy that had many names, successive Tunisian governments drew many red lines—in […]

Secretary General of the Ennahda Movment Ali Laarayedh knows torture intimately. He was held in solitary confinement for 13 years in the beginning of the 1990s (during the Ben Ali era). He was tormented physically and psychologically—he was even threatened with injection of the AIDS virus. But the 2011 revolution turned his life completely around […]

Tunisian journalist Mahmoud Bouneb has been unable to leave Qatar for nearly three years because of a drawn out legal case against him after he was fired from his executive position at Al Jazeera Network. Read more in the Correspondents report ‘Trapped in Qatar’. In an interview with Correspondents, Bouneb describes the events leading up […]