Day: March 3, 2017

Upstaging jihad in Tunisia’s impoverished mountains

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A rustic theatre where performers wear masks carved from cactus aims to win over young Tunisians in a long neglected mountain district that has become a cradle of jihadism. Welcome to the “Jabal (mountain) Theatre” of music and dance on an open-air stage flattened from bare earth on Mount Sammama, in a range of hills that is a favoured hideout of loyalists of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. Since its 2011 revolution, Tunisia, birthplace of the Arab Spring, has faced jihadist attacks that have killed more than 100 security…

Tunisia, Germany strike new immigration deal

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a new agreement with Tunisia on tackling illegal migration during a visit Friday, following tensions over the case of the Tunisian suspect in the Berlin market attack. Merkel, on a two-day trip to North Africa that also included a stop in Egypt, said Germany and Tunisia had agreed on faster repatriations for rejected asylum seekers and job training for Tunisians. The German leader, who faces elections in September, is under pressure to reduce the number of asylum seekers coming to her country, which has taken…

Tunisia warned of collapse of state due to growing corruption

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Tunisia’s National Anti-Corruption Authority President, Chawki Tabib, warned on Thursday of the collapse of the state because of rampant corruption, smuggling and a parallel economy. He made his comments during a press conference in the capital, Tunis. The country loses four growth points per year, Tabib pointed out, as well as 800 million dinars ($347.9 million) as a result of the smuggling of subsidised food, leading to growing foreign debt. An annual loss of 2 billion dinars ($1.8 billion) is directly due to corruption and the lack of adequate governance…

Tunisia: first flight to Conakry will be operated next March 27

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The first flight from Tunis to Conakry (Guinea), originally scheduled for 2019, will be launched on March 27, Transport Minister Anis Ghedira announced. Speaking on Tuesday at a plenary session of the House of People’s Representatives (HPR), he added that two flights a week will be scheduled to the Guinean capital. He said, in the same context, that his department is working, in co-operation with the various ministries, to strengthen its presence on the African continent.  We have scheduled a daily return flight to Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire), in addition to…

French organize two-day Libyan cultural festival ‘‘Min Ajil Libya’’ in Tunis

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The French embassies in Libya and Tunisia unite to organize a Libyan cultural festival entitled “For Libya / Min ajil Libya” on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 March. The festival will take place at the French Institute of Tunisia. The festival will celebrate Libya and its priceless heritage, its unique identity, its rich culture, its artistic creation and its proliferation of civil society initiatives. This joint initiative with the French institutes of Libya and Tunisia ‘‘shows that another Libya is possible’’, organizers report. Over the two days, rich and diverse…

Crocodile’s killing tarnished our reputation in famous media

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I felt sad and humiliated  at the same time when I read an articles posted in the British website” International Business Times ” , in “ Daily Mail” website as well as in “ AFP”,  of the killing of a poor crocodile in the Belvedere’s Zoo, because blind violence reaches even a crocodile, which can not hurt any one of the visitors. The crocodile had internal hemorrhage after he was stoned to death, according to the post of the municipality of Tunis. This painful story denounced by the municipality, was…