VZCZCXRO8430
OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHTRO
DE RUEHTU #0523/01 2091548
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 281548Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY TUNIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6615
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 0254

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TUNIS 000523 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR M AND NEA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/28/2019 
TAGS: PREL ASCH PGOV TS
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR,S FAREWELL CALL ON PRESIDENT BEN ALI 
 
REF: TUNIS 516 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Robert F. Godec, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (C) Ambassador paid a brief farewell call on President 
Zine el Abidine Ben Ali on Tuesday, July 28.  Ben Ali's focus 
was to resolve the issues around the American Cooperative 
School of Tunis (ACST).  He did so by reinstating the May 
deal on taxes, agreeing to the school's proposed rent for the 
land and promising a global status agreement.  The Ambassador 
expressed his appreciation to Ben Ali.  Throughout the 
meeting, Ben Ali was articulate, clear and gracious.  End 
Summary. 
 
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Meeting with the President 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) The Ambassador paid a farewell call on Tunisian 
President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali on Tuesday, July 28. 
Minister of State Abdelaziz Ben Dhia also attended the 
meeting. 
 
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ACST: All issues resolved 
------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) Ben Ali began by thanking the Ambassador for all he 
had done to strengthen US-Tunisian relations.  You have, Ben 
Ali said, done good work and we would welcome you back.  He 
continued that US-Tunisian relations are excellent, and date 
back more than 200 years.  The Ambassador thanked Ben Ali for 
his support and for all that he has done to strengthen 
bilateral relations. 
 
¶4. (C) Ben Ali then raised ACST, noting that he had only 
recently heard about the situation with the school.  Ben Ali 
said that he "wants this situation resolved" before the 
Ambassador departs.  He called it a "small thing", adding he 
had "reproached" GOT officials for "sending it to 
Washington."  He asked the Ambassador to review what had 
happened and what the United States wants on ACST. 
 
¶5. (C) The Ambassador briefly reviewed the situation with 
ACST's taxes, land rent and the status agreement.  The 
Ambassador noted that on the taxes, the United States 
believed it had an agreement in May but the matter had just 
gone before a court that issued an adverse ruling.  ACST is, 
the Ambassador said, prepared to pay the 4.2 million dinars 
as it had originally agreed and to pay taxes going forward. 
Ben Ali said "agreed", adding the court ruling would have no 
effect.  He turned to Ben Dhia and said "make this happen." 
Ben Dhia instantly agreed. 
 
¶6. (C) On the land, Ben Ali asked how much ACST is paying and 
how much the GOT was asking.  The Ambassador gave him the 
amounts, and noted the school was prepared to pay 40,000 
dinar a year, with a five percent annual escalation.  Ben Ali 
immediately agreed, saying there is no reason to argue over 
small amounts of money. 
 
¶7. (C) The Ambassador continued that the US Government also 
seeks a global agreement covering ACST similar to what has 
been done with the French and Italian governments on their 
schools.  Ben Ali immediately agreed, turning to Ben Dhia to 
ask him to issue the appropriate instructions.  The 
Ambassador noted the Embassy had sent a draft text of an 
agreement to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  Ben Ali agreed 
that it could be used, along with the Italian and French 
agreements, to prepare the global agreement. 
 
¶8. (C) Ben Ali said, "so that's it, we have agreement before 
you depart."  The Ambassador agreed and expressed his deep 
appreciation. 
 
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Other issues 
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¶9. (C) The Ambassador raised the letter from President Obama 
to President Ben Ali on Middle East peace.  Ben Ali said he 
had just replied with a long letter (more than five pages) on 
many aspects of the issue.  He said he would send a copy of 
the letter to the Embassy.  Ben Ali noted he had read 
President Obama's speeches in Cairo and Accra and found them 
 
TUNIS 00000523  002 OF 002 
 
 
"exceptional." 
 
¶10. (C) The Ambassador said the new US Administration offered 
an excellent opportunity to strengthen US-Tunisian relations. 
 He noted the United States and Tunisia could work to 
increase cooperation in education, science & technology, and 
other areas.  Ben Ali agreed, adding he hoped for further US 
investment as well.  The Ambassador noted that US investment 
in Tunisia in 2008 was nearly $100 million.  Ben Ali said it 
was a "good start." 
 
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Award 
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¶11. (C) Ben Ali said he would like to decorate the Ambassador 
with the "Order of the Republic."  The Ambassador thanked 
President Ben Ali and said he would be pleased to accept and 
would seek concurrence from the State Department. 
 
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Comment 
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¶12. (C) Throughout the meeting, Ben Ali was gracious, 
animated and engaged.  He was articulate and clear.  He 
showed no indications of health problems.  On ACST, he 
clearly wanted a resolution of the problem immediately.  He 
made plain he sees the matter as minor and that US-Tunisian 
relations are too important to allow it to hinder them.  We 
believe that Ben Ali's son-in-law, Sakher El Materi, 
exercised influence (reftel) that focused the President on 
the issue.  While we have some details to clean up, we 
believe the ACST matter is now resolved. 
Godec