TUNISIAN JOURALISTS REACT NEGATIVELY TO NEW FOREIGN MINISTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 001915


STATE FOR NEA (GRAY),NEA/MAG (WILLIAMS, LAWRENCE),NEA/PPD
(FERNANDEZ, SMITH AGNEW),NEA/PI (MULENEX, KIRBY),NEA/PA,
NEA/IP, I/GNA, DRL, CWG-PD, EB/CIP (SHIPMAN)
NSC FOR KSHAP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/26/2015
TAGS: KPAOPHUM PREL PGOV OIIP TS
SUBJECT: TUNISIAN JOURALISTS REACT NEGATIVELY TO NEW
FOREIGN MINISTER

REF: TUNIS 1805

Classified By: Amb. William J Hudson; reasons 1.4 (b),(d)

1.(C) Summary. Per reftel, on August 17, President Ben Ali
made the surprise appointment of presidential counselor
Adelwaheb Abdallah to the post of Foreign Minister. Having
long served as the de-facto Minister of Iformation and
widely believed to be one of the forces behind the GOT's
strict control over the media, Abdallah's move out of the
palace and to the forefront of Tunisian dipomacy has given
rise to much discussion of the reasons for the change.
Conversations with a wide variety of media professionals
reveal that while Tunisian journalists disagree about the
real reason behind the appointment, they generally remain
pessimistic that there is hope for an end to the widspread
censorship that defines the Tunisian media environment. End
Summary.

2.(C) On August 18 Tunisian newspapers announced that
President Ben Ali had appointed one of his closest veteran
adisors, Abdelwaheb Abdallah, as Foreign Minister. his
decision took all observers by surprise, since Abdallah has
spent the last fifteen years in the Palace, where he oversaw
all aspects of informaion in the country, to include the
appointment of editors and directors, licensing (or failure
to license) new newspapers, and even the editorial and news
content of the daily newspapers. A journalist by
background, Abdallah has little exerience in areas of
international relations, except for two years as Ambassador
to London.

3.(C) Over the past week, Embassy personnel spoke to eight
journalists of varied poliical allegiances about this issue.
According to these journalists, Abdallah was appointed to
the post of Foreign Minister due to President Ben Ali's
belief that he was the correct person to manage foreign
relations up to and during the November World Summit for
the Information Society (WSIS) scheduled to take place in
Tunis. Several of them advanced the idea that Ben Ali has
been so impressed with Abdallah's ability to control
informaton inside Tunisia that it was a natural progression
to place his master propagandist at the Foreign Ministry.
Those journalists, however, agreed that this was a
miscalculation on the President's part, as it is widely known
that Abdallah is held in low esteem by those Tunisians and
foreign diplomats who are cognizant of his role in
suppressing freedom of the press in the country. Another
theory expressed was that Abdallah was being set up for a
fall, with some journalists speculating that this move may
have been made to distance Abdallah from the President at a
time when freedom of the press is constantly raised by
international observers.

4.(C) Several of the journalists noted the dismay with which
this appointment was met at the government media outlets and
at the government-run journalism university, IPSI. One said
that the IPSI faculty, while disgusted with the state of the
press in Tunisia, counted on Abdallah for continued support
and funding of the university. (Note: Abdallah is a former
professor at IPSI. End Note.) Another wondered how the
government media would go on without the daily instructions
that had been provided by Abdallah to their editors and
journalists. One editor at a government newspaper alluded to
these close relations when he laughingly referred to his
colleagues as "Abdallah's orphans" who would be lost without
their patron; he also reported that the day that Abdallah
moved to the Foreign Ministry, there were more journalists
than diplomats in his office. (Note: One journalist reported
that he was specifically summoned to the Foreign Ministry by
Presidential Press Attache Lamjet Hamdani, who told him that
Abdallah wanted to arrive to the Foreign Ministry surrounded
by journalists. This same journalist opined that this was
done to underline Abdallah's powerful position for his new
colleagues at the MFA. He also reported that, when he saw
Abdallah, he asked him directly if this meant the end of his
work on information issues in the country; Abdallah
reportedly replied, "Never." End Note.)

5.(C) All the journalists agreed that Abdallah's move outside
of the palace walls would naturally diminish his influence
over the President and that his new portfolio would keep him
so busy that he could no longer directly interfere in the
working of the Tunisian media. That said, none of them felt
that this move would alleviate existing control over their
profession. They cited the important role that editors and
directors -- all of whom are loyal to Abdallah -- play in
ensuring that government redlines are strictly observed.
They concluded that, with or without Abdallah, journalists
would still not enjoy any margin of liberty in their
reporting. Some thought that Abdallah's former staff
(including Presidential Press Attache Lamjet Hamdani and
Presidential Press Counselor Mehdi Hattab) would remain
active in the palace, providing usual daily instruction to
newspapers.

6.(C) When asked if the Tunisian Journalists Association
viewed this as an opportunity for a new opening in the press,
one of its leaders indicated that the pro-government
leadership was unlikely to challenge what is widely seen as
President Ben Ali's decision to control the media. The
journalists believe that, while Abdallah was often vilified
as the sole controller of all information in the country, he
was in reality no more than a spoke in the wheel of media
control that will continue to turn even after his move to the
Foreign Ministry. All of the journalists advanced the idea
that President Ben Ali is the person responsible for lack of
freedom of expression in this country and whether through
Abdallah or the Ministry of Interior, the press will remain
muzzled.

7.(C) Comment. While it is probable that Abdallah was moved
to the MFA to ensure the success of Tunisia's role in the
WSIS, it is also possible that Ben Ali is trying to send a
sign to outside observers that the Palace will no longer be
controlling the press. Despite journalists' pessimism, we
hope that Abdallah's new position as Foreign Minister will
provide multiple new opportunities to raise the mission
priority of free press in Tunisia with the one person (other
than the President) who is most responsible for the sad
situation of the media in the country.


HUDSON