Ahmed Ounaies (born 25 January 1936), also spelled Ahmed Ounaiss, is a Tunisian politician and diplomat who was

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

for two weeks in the transitional government established after the 2010–2011 Tunisian uprising. Public pressure forced him to resign a week after controversially praising

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Minister

Michèle Alliot-Marie Michèle Yvette Marie-Thérèse Jeanne Honorine Alliot-Marie (; born 10 September 1946), known in France as MAM, is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from France. She is a member of the The Republicans (France), Rep ...

, who openly supported

Ben Ali Ben Ali may refer to: People * Ben Ali (businessman) (1927–2009), founder of the restaurant Ben's Chili Bowl in Washington, DC, USA * Habib Ben Ali (1941–1996), Tunisian criminal * Ibrahim Ben Ali (1756–1800), soldier and physician who was ...

and helped deliver

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the Mace (spray), early commercial self-defense spray, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the ey ...

to police forces. His predecessor who was Ben Ali's foreign minister —

Kamel Morjane Kamel Morjane, also spelled Kemal Mourjan, (; born 9 May 1948) is a Tunisian politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Defense from 2005 to 2010 and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2010 to 2011. After the Tunisian Revolution, he ...

— had also resigned from his post. His successor — Mouldi Kefi — was appointed on 21 February 2011.

Minister of Foreign Affairs

On January 29, after a week of

protests in Egypt The Egyptian Revolution may refer to: * The ʻUrabi revolt, a nationalist uprising in Egypt from 1879 to 1882, aimed at ending British & French influence. * The 1919 Egyptian revolution, led by Saad Zaghlul and the Wafd Party against the British o ...

he said Tunisia and Egypt are different and both must "chart their own course". He also emphasized that Tunisia was not going to involve itself in Egypt.

Controversy and resignation

During his trip to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, he angered many Tunisians by stating he had always dreamed of meeting French Foreign Minister Alliot-Marie.Amara, Tarek, and Richard Valdmanis
"CORRECTED-Tunisia Names New Foreign Minister"
Reuters.com. Africa Reuters, 21 February 2011. Web. 10 April 2011. He went on to praise her by stating she was "above all a friend of Tunisia". In

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

, about 300 employees of the foreign ministry staged a protest rally outside their workplace to demand that he step down after his comments. Hundreds more joined the protest. After only two weeks as foreign minister, he resigned on 13 February 2011."Tunisian Foreign Minister Resigns"
''Al Jazeera English''. 13 February 2011. Web. 13 February 2011.

Honours

* 2018 : Grand officier of the

National Order of Merit of Tunisia National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ounaies, Ahmed 1936 births Living people Politicians from Tunis People of the Tunisian revolution Foreign ministers of Tunisia Ambassadors of Tunisia to Russia Ambassadors of Tunisia to India

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Controversy and resignation

Honours

See also

References