R esignation of Tunisian ministerTUNIS – Tunisian foreign minister Ahmed Ounaiss has resigned, the state news agency reported yesterday, a week after he became embroiled in a row over compliments he paid to his French opposite number.
The resignation is likely to cause new disruption to a coalition government that has already seen several ministers resign or be fired since it stepped in to fill the vacuum left by last month’s overthrow of then president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. Mr Ounaiss said he had always dreamed of meeting French foreign minister Michèle Alliot-Marie, who is accused by opponents in France of being too close to Tunisia’s ousted administration. – (Reuters)