TUNISIA: CONTINUED POSITIVE REACTIONS TO OBAMA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TUNIS 000361

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/FO, NEA/PPD, NEA/MAG, AND NEA/PI
NSC FOR SHAPIRO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/10/2019
TAGS: PREL KISL KPAO KPAL TS
SUBJECT: TUNISIA: CONTINUED POSITIVE REACTIONS TO OBAMA
SPEECH ONE WEEK AFTER

REF: TUNIS 343

Classified By: Ambassador Robert F. Godec for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

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Summary
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1. (C) One week after President Obama's June 4 Cairo speech,
Tunisians continue to be generally positive. Much skepticism
remains, with some commentators raising questions about
actions versus words. The speech also remains a topic of
conversation and discourse in the media. In fact, the cover
of the French-language weekly Realites, which came out on
June 11, features a campaign photo of President Obama, with
his logo in the background creating a halo effect around his
head. The Embassy has already seen one concrete change as a
result of the policies put in place by President Obama and
articulated in the Cairo speech: some contacts who had
boycotted Embassy events for the past several years put aside
their anger over the war in Iraq to come to a roundtable
about the Middle East Partnership Initiative. Meanwhile,
several contacts in the economic and commercial domain have
responded favorably to the speech, especially the references
to economic development, entrepreneurship programs, and
technology transfer, and are asking how they can sign up.
End Summary.

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Official Responses: "Wonderful"
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2. (C) Several GOT officials have responded favorably to the
speech:

-- Saida Chtioui, Secretary of State for the Americas, Asia
at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the Ambassador on
June 10 that the speech had been "wonderful." She assessed
that it represented a complete change of US policy, which,
she said, was "very welcome."

-- Salah T'barki, Head of the Chamber of Deputies' Foreign
Relations Committee, was extremely positive, pulling the
Ambassador aside on the margins of an EU elections event, to
say that the speech represented just the kind of overture
that was needed from the United States. T'barki said he
believes GOT officials generally are pleased with President
Obama's message.

-- Hajer Cherif, the Deputy Secretary General of the ruling
Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD) party, also reacted
very positively to the speech in a June 7 conversation with
the Ambassador.

-- In a June 11 conversation with DCM and visiting NEA/MAG
Office Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director for the
Americas Holla Bachtobji was very positive about the speech,
expressing particular interest in the Israeli-Palestinian and
economic development portions. With respect to the latter,
she noted that the GOT had already submitted to the
Congressional contacts and the Department a non-paper with
ideas on how to use FY 2010 Economic Support Funds for a
variety of initiatives that would be in line with Obama's
ideas. Meanwhile, MFA official Mourad Belhassen
characterized the speech as "excellent in tone," but he said
he did not see anything new in substance. He said that this
would be his written analysis in an internal paper he had
been asked to prepare.

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The Military Take
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3. (C) Tunisian military officers with whom DATT has spoken
have been generally pleased with the speech. The consensus
is that, rather than say what he thought the Arab world
wanted to hear, President Obama actually said what he meant
and meant what he said. One exception was Captain-Major
Khammassi, who said, "I like Bush. He saw a problem and he
went directly at it. After a short pause he added, however,
that "Obama understands Arabs better."

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More than Just Words
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4. (SBU) The cover story of this week's French-language
weekly Realites features a campaign photo of President Obama,

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with his logo in the background creating a halo effect around
his head. The accompanying headline is: "Obama, Islam, and
Palestine: The New Face of America." This saintly portrayal
reflects the positive vibe we have been getting from official
and unofficial sources. The editorial, to which the cover
refers, acknowledges that some commentators are asking
whether Obama's words will remain, in the end just words.
Indeed, the populist Arabic daily had warned earlier in the
week against "fall(ing) into the trap of Obama's sweet
words." The Realites editor concludes, however that there
was more to the speech than just words. Rather, he says,
Obama managed to use words -- including the Arabic and
Quranic references -- to transcend historical and political
differences. (Note: Embassy has transmitted to NEA/PPD a
one-page synopsis of public sentiment and media reactions by
separate email.)

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MEPI Roundtable Participants: No More Boycott?
-------------- -


5. (SBU) At a June 10 roundtable with a diverse group of
local contacts from political parties and non-governmental
organizations, Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI)/RO
Director gave a briefing on MEPI activities. Pol/EconCouns
took advantage of this gathering to underscore that the
Embassy would be taking its lead from the policy direction
given by the President in the Cairo speech. When asked if
they had seen or read the speech, the participants reacted
with laughter -- "As if any one of us would have missed
this!" one said. All participants welcomed the message.
Indeed, some participants, whose organizations had previously
boycotted Embassy and particularly MEPI activities because of
their rejection of the war in Iraq, made clear that they had
come with an open mind to learn about MEPI activities and
partnership possibilities as a result of the changes being
put in place by President Obama and articulated in the
speech. Some participants expressed skepticism about whether
concrete actions would follow Obama's words, however, and
some still harbored concerns about what they perceived as a
US proclivity to try to "impose" democracy.

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Tunisians Want In On Exchanges, Entrepreneurship Summit
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6. (SBU) Several Embassy contacts from the economic and
commercial realm have responded favorably to the speech as
well:

-- Mondher Ben Ayed, President of the Tunisian-American
Chamber of Commerce, told the Ambassador that he was in "100
percent agreement" with the speech.

-- Alaya Bettaieb, a venture capitalist who is a long-time
Embassy contact and partner in several MEPI-funded
Congressional Law Development Program (CLDP) activities,
including on technology transfer, asked to see Pol/EconCouns
and EconOff on June 10 as a direct result of the speech. He
gushed that the speech, was "just right" and was particularly
enthusiastic about the idea of the Summit on Entrepreneurship
and the new fund to support technological development in
Muslim majority countries. Bettaieb briefed us on the
UAE-based Arab Science and Technology Foundation, of which he
is a member, and whose Arab Academic Technology Transfer
Project he directs. He is anxious to help partner with us in
realizing President Obama's vision.

-- Aziz Mebarek, Founding Partner of Tuninvest, a successful,
OPIC-backed venture capital enterprise with pan-African
outreach, contacted Econ/CommercialOff the evening of the
Cairo speech to praise its strong message. "This is the real
face of the United States," he wrote, "which we love." He
also appreciated the "courageous" way Obama dealt with
sensitive topics such as the Middle East conflict. Picking
up on Obama's references to economic development, Mebarek
emphasized the work that Tuninvest is doing with Lagray, a
pharmaceutical company in Accra, Ghana, which is focused on
delivering WHO-identified essential drugs to the population.
He suggested that President Obama visit this company during
his planned July visit to Ghana. Finally, Mebarek concluded,
he had no doubt that there would be a "before" and an "after"
to the Cairo speech.

-- Khaled Koubaa, President and Founder of the Arab World
Internet Institute and an alumni of the MEPI Leaders for
Democracy Fellowship, contacted Pol/EconCouns to convey his
pleasure with President Obama's speech. He noted that

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Obama's references to building bridges had rung true, and he
suggested that the USG take advantage of the Internet as one
such bridge. Koubaa also expressed interest in participating
in the Summit on Entrepreneurship.

-- Koubaa was not the only contact to express interest in the
Summit. As mentioned reftel, the Communications Manager of
the Tunis branch of the International Association of Students
of the Economic Sciences and Commerce (AISEC) also picked up
on Obama's references to exchanges and the entrepreneurship
summit, wasting no time in contacting Econ/CommercialOff to
express interest.

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Comment
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7. (C) Clearly, the Cairo speech continues to resonate in
Tunisia. Although the GOT did not make a public statement in
response to the speech, the feedback that we have gotten from
Tunisian officials has been quite positive. As for the
response of our non-governmental contacts, the fact that some
individuals who previously boycotted Embassy events came to
our MEPI briefing speaks volumes. In addition, Ambassador is
hosting a networking reception this evening for about 100
proven and potential change agents around the theme of social
entrepreneurship. No doubt, the speech will continue to be a
main topic of conversation. End Comment.

Please visit Embassy Tunis' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/tunis/index.c fm
Godec