VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTU #0815/01 3100637
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 060637Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY TUNIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6959
INFO RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS TUNIS 000815 
 
SENSITVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA/PPD FOR SULLIVAN, RATNEY AND PELTON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KPAO TS
SUBJECT: TUNISIAN RESPONSE TO THE SECRETARY'S NOVEMBER 2 ADDRESS TO 
THE FORUM FOR THE FUTURE 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  In spite of post's extensive efforts to obtain 
full coverage for the Secretary's speech at the Forum for the Future 
in Marrakech, including a pre-arranged interview with one of the 
media hub spokespersons for a local journalist, the lack of live 
television coverage on the satellite networks resulted in 
practically no local media attention to the speech.  However, there 
was extensive coverage of the Secretary's recent statements on the 
West Bank settlements made before and during the Forum, all of which 
was negative.  As almost no one here had heard the speech, no 
Tunisians had any comment to make about it.  In advance of the 
speech, the Ambassador flagged the attention of a high-level 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs official to its importance and also 
conveyed the significance of the Secretary's new language on the 
settlements, made at the margins of the Forum, in a diplomatic note. 
  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Audience reaction: Neither BBC Arabic, BBC international, 
CNN, nor Al Jazeera TV carried the speech live or provided coverage 
of it after the fact.  Neither was the speech rebroadcast on local 
TV afterwards.  Consequently, viewership was extremely limited; none 
of the Tunisians we sought to poll had actually heard it directly, 
and no one we spoke to had an opinion about it.  Most Tunisians were 
focused instead on statements the Secretary had made about 
settlements in the West Bank prior to and during the Forum, which 
had been given heavy and negative coverage in the local papers over 
the last ten days. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Examples of key headlines/lead stories: As-Sabah Arabic 
daily: "Clinton's clarifications about settlements are not enough to 
re-launch the negotiations; Clinton's statement is a step back on 
Obama's promises." Le Quotidien French language daily: "This 
spectacular reversal by Washington buries hopes raised in recent 
months about what appeared to be a shift in U.S. policy." 
Ash-Shorouq Arabic daily: "America's step-back on settlements has 
weakened Abbas's options."  Front-page coverage in Le Temps: "Even 
if Clinton tried to reassure the Palestinians in Marrakech, the 
damage is done and the disappointment is evident. This U-turn means 
that Obama's intentions will not go beyond the stage of vague 
attempts." 
 
¶4. (SBU) Key anecdotes of audience and/or government responses: 
Because of the lack of coverage on the television networks, the 
Tunisians we sought to poll on the speech were not familiar enough 
with it to have an opinion. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Overall assessment of penetration and reasons if low 
penetration:  Lack of television coverage meant that few Tunisians 
were aware of the remarks made in the Forum speech.  Those who 
followed newspaper coverage may have been aware of the Secretary's 
remarks on West Bank settlements made during a photo spray at the 
margin of the Forum. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Type of media coverage:  Print only, with widespread 
coverage of Secretary's remarks concerning West Bank settlements, 
but not of the speech itself. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Television stations covering the speech live and their 
viewership: None; probably because no live coverage was provided by 
the satellite cable news networks viewed by most Tunisians. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Speech (re)broadcast, printed in full or just excerpts:  No 
broadcast or other use of the speech except for the Embassy's web 
page and our direct emailing to our contacts.  Comments were made 
about Secretary's settlements remarks, but her actual words were not 
quoted. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Follow-up interviews, statements, events, made by USG 
officials:  On October 30, Ambassador Gray mentioned the fact that 
the Secretary would be giving an important speech in a meeting with 
Mrs. Schtioui, the Tunisian Secretary of State for American and 
Asian Affairs, as she was planning to attend the Forum for the 
Future.  Additionally, the Ambassador sent a diplomatic note to the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spelling out the language that the 
Secretary had used in her remarks about settlements made at the 
margins of the Forum. Tunis Public Affairs Officer subsequently paid 
an office call on the director of a popular independent FM radio 
station to ascertain his interest in interviewing an Embassy 
officer, who had assisted in Marrakech, about the initiatives 
announced at the Forum; we are hopeful that we may be able to report 
progress soon but are not overly optimistic. 
 
¶10. (SBU) What key non-USG credible voices commented on the speech, 
tone, quotes:  There was no local commentary on the speech itself, 
only on the Secretary's remarks about settlements. 
 
¶11. (SBU) What new media tools were used to broadcast the speech or 
encourage discussion: Post invited a Tunisian journalist from 
 
Al-Sabah newspaper to do an exclusive interview with a PA regional 
media hub spokesperson by phone after the Secretary's speech at the 
Forum for the Future, but the hub spokesperson asked to re-schedule 
this to a later time that was not possible for the journalist.  In 
lieu of the promised interview, we provided the journalist with 
Washington's media notes about the Forum that had been sent in 
advance of, and after, the speech.  Post posted all of these 
materials on the Embassy web page, in Facebook, and distributed them 
electronically to local journalists in a trilingual format. 
 
GRAY