EUROPEANS STEP UP ON TUNIS AMERICAN SCHOOL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TUNIS 000222

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/MAG (NARDI/WILLIAMS)
DEPT FOR NEA/FO (HUDSON/FELTMAN)
DEPT FOR NEA-SCA/EX
DEPT FOR A/OPR/OS (CAMERON)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TS ASCH OFDP PREL
SUBJECT: EUROPEANS STEP UP ON TUNIS AMERICAN SCHOOL

REF: A. TUNIS 217

B. TUNIS 203

C. TUNIS 191

D. TUNIS 182 AND PREVIOUS

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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) Immediately following the April 7 with Ministry of
Foreign Affairs Chief of Staff Khemiri (Ref A),the
Ambassador briefed a group of European diplomats on the ACST
tax crisis. The Europeans were universally supportive, with
EU ambassadors agreeing to make an informal demarche as soon
as possible and some ambassadors offering more concrete
steps. The group also suggested that next week's visit of
the Czech president may provide an opportunity to raise the
school issue at the highest possible level. End summary.

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EUROPEAN SOLIDARITY
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2. (SBU) The Ambassador briefed the ambassadors or other
representatives of the Belgian, Dutch, German, Italian,
Polish, Romanian, Spanish and Swiss Embassies and the
European Commission on the ACST tax crisis on the evening of
April 7 at the German ambassador's residence. Some of the
European diplomats present have their own children in the
school, and all have children from their missions and/or
larger communities in the school. The assembled group
expressed unanimous support for the school and agreed that
the issue is fundamentally political, not technical as the
Tunisians allege.

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EU ACTION & OPPORTUNITY
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3. (SBU) Urged on by the Dutch ambassador, the EU diplomats
agreed to approach the Czech ambassador (not present) in his
role representing the Presidency to request an immediate
informal EU demarche on the subject. All agreed that only
intervention at the level of the Tunisian president is likely
to cause the GOT to alter its course. The Polish ambassador
suggested, and the group enthusiastically endorsed, that the
visit to Tunisia next week of Czech President Vaclav Klaus
may prove to be an excellent opportunity to take the issue
directly to President Ben Ali. (Note: Post has asked
NEA/MAG to repeat the ACST demarche cable to Prague. ACST
counts over 125 EU nationals among its students including the
dependents of a dozen EU missions and institutions, although
no Czech nationals. End note.)

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FURTHER EUROPEAN ACTIONS
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4. (SBU) Some Europeans agreed to go further either at that
meeting or in conversations later that evening. The German
ambassador said he would also put in a request to meet with
Minister of State Ben Dhia on the ACST issue and encouraged
others to do the same. The Swiss ambassador offered his very
strong support to whatever course of action would be helpful.
The Romanian ambassador offered to have his President raise
the issue when Ben Ali visits in May, but acknowledged that
this would likely be too late.

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ACST PREPARES STAFF/PARENTS
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4. (SBU) As rumors continue to fly about the school's
uncertain future, the ACST Director in consultation with the
Board and Embassy, made on April 8 two brief statements to
the community. To the staff, he acknowledged that the school
faces a very serious problem and assured employees that his
team, the Board and the Embassy are working hard to find a
solution, but declined to provide more details and asked for
patience in light of the sensitivity of the issues involved.
To the parents he said much the same thing in a brief entry
in the weekly newsletter, also announcing that the issue will
be discussed at the school's upcoming and sure to be
well-attended Annual General Meeting on the evening of April

17.

TUNIS 00000222 002 OF 002



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NEW DEVELOPMENTS
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5. (SBU) The most recent developments late in the day on
April 8 and continued post efforts will be reported via
e-mail and septel.
Godec