Ahmed Ounaies

Ahmed Ounaies (born 25 January 1936), also spelled Ahmed Ounaiss, 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.

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 (age 88) 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 was not going to involve itself in Egypt.^[3]

Controversy and resignation

During 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

• Government Mohamed Ghannouchi

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.