ABBAS MEETING WITH PRESIDENT BEN ALI

UNCLAS TUNIS 002026 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA/MAG FOR HARRIS, NEA/IPA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV TS SUBJECT: ABBAS MEETING WITH PRESIDENT BEN ALI ¶1. On August 9, all Tunisian newspapers carried an official GOT press agency report of a meeting between visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Tunisian President Ben Ali. Abbas visited Tunisia August 7 - 8. According to the report, the two discussed the situation in the Palestinian territories, which Abbas reportedly described as "no less tragic than Lebanon", the current draft UN security resolution on Israel and Lebanon, and the possibility of an upcoming emergency Arab League Summit. Abbas and Ben Ali also reportedly discussed Tunisian-Palestinian bilateral and cultural relations and "questions of political order", especially "the possibility of coordination of the Tunisian and Palestinian positions" on relations with the U.S. and Europe. According to press reports, Abbas was accompanied by Nabil Abour Roudeina, Advisor to the Palestinian President, as well as the Palestinian Ambassador in Tunis. Tunisian editorials predictably heralded Tunisia and Ben Ali's "infallible support" for the Palestinian people, especially in the "difficult and tragic times following the Israeli aggression." BALLARD