SAUDI ARABIA: Tunisian Prime Minister Hammadi Jebali speaking in Riyadh encourages Syrian opposition to unite

Record ID: 188904

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: Tunisian Prime Minister Hammadi Jebali speaking in Riyadh encourages Syrian opposition to unite
  • Date: 21st February 2012
  • Summary: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA (FEBRUARY 20, 2012) (REUTERS) CONFERENCES PALACE FLAGS OF SAUDI ARABIA AND TUNISIA TUNISIAN PRIME MINISTER HAMMADI JEBALI SEATED AT NEWS CONFERENCE REPORTER ASKING QUESTION REPORTERS LISTENING SOUNDBITE (Arabic) TUNISIAN PRIME MINISTER HAMMADI JEBALI, SPEAKING TO REPORTERS AT NEWS CONFERENCE WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE FORMER TUNISIAN PRESIDENT ZINE AL-ABIDINE BEN ALI, SAYING: "(Zine al-Abidine) Ben Ali's file now is with the judiciary. Naturally, he was invited to appear before the courts, but refused and has now been tried in absentia on several charges. Nonetheless, the Tunisian judiciary is dealing with this file, and it is for this reason that I do not wish to refer too much to the case." REPORTERS AT NEWS CONFERENCE SOUNDBITE (Arabic) TUNISIAN PRIME MINISTER HAMMADI JEBALI SAYING: "We are closer to adopting the stance that there needs to be Arab and other Muslim peacekeeping forces (in Syria)." REPORTERS AT NEWS CONFERENCE SOUNDBITE (Arabic) TUNISIAN PRIME MINISTER HAMMADI JEBALI SAYING: "We are in favour and would seek to recognise a body which represents all the Syrian rebels and the opposition. If that's not possible, we would seek to look at the most representative possible."
  • Embargoed: 7th March 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8NVPXFLNDR9Z47725QW4PYE80
  • Story Text: Tunisian Prime Minister Hammadi Jebali, on a visit to Saudi Arabia, on Monday (February 20) said the case of former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, whose overthrow in a revolution in January last year helped inspire the "Arab Spring" , is now up to the Tunisian judicial system.
    Ben Ali has been in exile with his family in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and was sentenced in June last year by a Tunisian court to 35 years in jail, after being found guilty of theft and illegally possessing jewellery and large sums of cash.
    "(Zine al-Abidine) Ben Ali's file now is with the judiciary. Naturally, he was invited to appear before the courts, but refused and has now been tried in absentia on several charges. Nonetheless, the Tunisian judiciary is dealing with this file, and it is for this reason that I do not wish to refer too much to the case," Jebali said, during a news conference in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
    Tunisia is joining Arab countries in encouraging the Syrian opposition to unite before they formally recognise them as a government in waiting.
    A year into the revolt against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian National Council (SNC) has emerged as the international voice of the uprising but has yet to show a real command over grassroots activists and an armed insurgency.
    Doubts over the SNC's authority inside Syria have been brought into focus by a Feb. 24 meeting in Tunisia of the "Friends of Syria", organised by the Arab League to try to build international momentum against Assad.
    The SNC hopes that recognition from Arab countries would crown it as the opposition government-in-waiting, just as foreign recognition of Libya's National Transitional Council last year helped rebels who eventually ousted Muammar Gaddafi.
    But the SNC controls no territory in Syria and not all Arab countries are convinced that it represents the full spectrum of Syria's opposition.
    Jebali indicated that Arab countries would encourage the fractured Syrian opposition to unite before they would recognise them as a government-in-waiting.
    "We are in favour and would seek to recognise a body which represents all the Syrian rebels and the opposition. If that's not possible, we would seek to look at the most representative possible," Jebali said.
    Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring uprisings, has been strongly critical of Assad. Earlier this month, it withdrew its recognition of the Syrian government and expelled Syria's diplomats from the country but has stopped short of inviting the SNC to replace them.
    The expulsions have drawn criticism from some Tunisian opposition parties as well as unions and civil society groups and some have opposed the government's decision to host the Syria conference, fearing it will be used as a platform to launch an eventual Libya-style military campaign in Syria.
    NATO led the campaign in Libya, acting under a United Nations mandate to protect civilians and France has recently floated the idea of setting up "humanitarian corridors" to ferry relief to towns bearing the brunt of Assad's crackdown.
    Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdesslem on Friday (February 17) said the conference would not take any decisions that undermined Syria's sovereignty or territorial integrity and that any resolution to the Syrian crisis would be Arab-led.
    Jebali reiterated this position during the news conference.
    "We are closer to adopting the stance that there needs to be Arab and other Muslim peacekeeping forces (in Syria)," he said.
    Syrian forces have renewed their bombardment of opposition strongholds as an embattled Assad presses ahead with a referendum on a new constitution and multi-party elections.
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