Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume XXIV, North Africa

89. Telegram From the Embassy in Tunisia to the Department of State¹

5445.

Tunis, May 23, 1988, 1422Z

SUBJECT

• Qadhafi Meets Ben Ali at Jerba: Joint Communiqué Lists Seven Accords.

Ref:

• Tunis 4868.²

1. Secret—Entire text.

2. At the invitation of President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, Colonel Muammar Qadhafi came to the Tunisian island of Jerba for a two hour tete-a-tete on May 22. Qadhafi arrived in the afternoon and left that evening. According to media reports, King Hassan II of Morocco telephoned Ben Ali to express his congratulations on the meeting and his optimism about the future of North African relations. The King reportedly made a separate call to Qadhafi.

3. Qadhafi was accompanied by Chief of Military Intelligence Colonel Khwildi Humidi, Secretary of the People’s General Commission for Services Fawzi al-Shakshouki, and Director of Cooperation of the People’s Commission for International Contact Mohamed Sayala. Prime Minister Hedi Baccouche, Foreign Minister Mahmoud Mestiri, Interior Minister Habib Ammar, Transportation and Tourism Minister Abderrazak Kefi, Social Affairs Minister Taoufik Cheikhrouhou, Minister of Information Abdelwahab Abdullah, and the ruling party’s Director for External Affairs Mohamed Karboul accompanied Ben Ali to Jerba.

4. The talks were capped by a press communiqué in which the two parties reaffirmed the will to work for North African unity. The communiqué also announced seven agreements which reportedly:

(A) Guarantee freedom of movement for persons between the two countries by means of a common personal identity card which will be prepared by a joint commission;

(B) Guarantee free movement of goods between the two countries;

(C) Guarantee freedom of residence, work, and property for the citizens of the two countries within both countries respectively;

(D) Work to implement the following complementary projects between the two countries:

— connection of the electric network.

— extension of the telephone network.

— the Ras Jedir/Sfax highway.

— the pipeline between the Zaouia refinery and Zarzis.

(E) Cooperate in the implementation and management of economic and pilot development projects such as:

— the Tripoli hospital.

— the Jbel Lakhdhar agricultural project (in Libya).

— the Iron and Steel Consortium at Misrata (in Libya).

(F) Restate the agreement previously concluded on the continental shelf. The final accord on this subject is to be signed during the visit that President Ben Ali will make to Libya in the coming days. (FYI: Ben Ali is now expected in Libya in early June after the OAU meeting in Addis Ababa. End FYI.)

(G) Reaffirm cooperation in the field of information concerning common production and diffusion.

5. In previously-scheduled meeting May 23 with Secretary of State Sahbani (septel),³ Ambassador raised Jerba meeting. Sahbani had not had a chance to get a read out, but noted U.S. interest. On the specific issue of the common identity card, Sahbani opined that it would probably function as a laissez passer for individuals whose professional or business interests required frequent travel between the two countries. It would not replace national identity cards.

6. Also on May 23, Central Bank Governor Khelil told Ambassador he wholeheartedly supported the current opening with Libya. Tunisia was benefiting, he said, in terms both of its sales to visiting Libyans and of employment opportunities for Tunisians in Libya. The Central Bank was making foreign exchange available to Tunisians seeking to replace or increase their stocks for the Libyan trade. Private sector would import goods to meet the Libyan demand, pay GOT customs, and sell at a profit to Libyans who had exchanged hard currency for Tunisian dinars. The economic advantages to Tunisia of rapprochement with Libya were greater than they would be, as a practical matter, with Algeria. Politically, too, the cooperation with Libya would give Tunisia a stronger and co-equal voice in dealing with Algeria and Morocco in the Maghreb context.

7. (NF) Comment. Coming shortly before Ben Ali’s expected visit to Tripoli, the Jerba meeting is a surprise. The telephone conversations with King Hassan tend to confirm a previous report [less than 1 line not declassified] that Ben Ali took the initiative to play a role in promoting Libyan-Moroccan relations. With the dramatic announcement of renewed Algerian-Moroccan relations, President Ben Ali probably saw an opportunity to increase the momentum toward Maghreb unity and win some credit for Tunisia in the process. As Foreign Minister Mestiri noted to us previously, bringing Libya around is considered a special vocation on the part of the current GOT.

8. The long list of bilateral accords reflects a Libyan desire to rebuild its relations with Tunisia from the ground up and simultaneously derive the maximum economic benefit from the process. They will be popular here—as Khelil’s comments to Ambassador testify.

9. The accords appear to renew momentum toward freer movement of goods and people between the two countries. Taken as a whole the agreements seem to go further than those existing between Tunisia and Algeria which provide for free movement of goods and people, as well as rights of residence, work, and property only within a 15-km wide strip on either side of the border. Tunisia can be expected to benefit disproportionately from free trade, at least as measured by relative export levels (reftel). However, as with all free trade arrangements, the consumers of both countries will benefit the most. This may be the motivation behind Qadhafi’s making what otherwise would appear to be a one sided concession. Strapped by import restrictions and stagnant production at home, he has opened a safety valve which allows the Libyan consumer to vent his pent up demand abroad, rather than growing increasingly dissatisfied with the limited range of goods and services available in Libya.

Pelletreau

1. Source: Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, Electronic Telegrams, D880441–0225. Secret; Immediate; Noforn. Sent for information Priority to Algiers, Cairo, Nouakchott, Paris, Rabat, and Rome.
2. In telegram 4868 from Tunis, May 5, the Embassy reported: “In the first two weeks of April, following Col. Qadhafi’s theatrical demolition of the main Libyan border post and before the beginning of Ramadan, tens of thousands of Libyans swarmed into Tunisia. Armed with wads of dollar traveler’s checks, these ‘tourists’ charged up to dols 2 million per day at the border before proceeding northward on a huge shopping spree. Their numbers dwarfed those of the previously reported flows in the opposite direction—Tunisians headed to Libya looking for work.” It continued “Restoration of diplomatic relations between Tunisia and Libya last December has permitted the resumption and expansion of an economic relationship which is of significant value to Tunisia and crucial to the two countries’ bilateral relations.” (Department of State, Central Foreign Policy File, Electronic Telegrams, D880389–0768)
3. No record of the Pelletreau-Sahbani meeting has been found.