RUMSFELD VISITS TUNISIA.

After a NATO meeting in Sicily, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld flew to Tunis on February 11 to confer with President Ben Ali, Defense Minister Kamel Morjane, and Foreign Minister Abdelwahab Abdallah. He also visited the museum in Carthage and the American military cemetery in Gammarth.

Little information was provided to the American press about the conversations other than "international and regional issues." However, according to the Tunisian press, President Ben Ali underscored Tunisia's intention to maintain stability in the region and to continue support for the Palestinian people. In an informal press conference after his tour of the museum, Rumsfeld said that he had mentioned political reform, but praised Tunisia for having "the courage to stand up and speak on behalf of moderation and against violence and extremism."

After leaving Tunisia, Rumsfeld flew to Algiers to meet President Bouteflika, then to Morocco to meet with King Mohammed VI. The meeting in Algiers was perhaps the most newsworthy of the trip through the Mahgreb because of substantial past differences between the Algerian and US governments. Rumsfeld is the first Secretary of Defense to ever visit Algeria, and although several high-ranking State Department officials have visited Tunisia in recent years, Rumsfeld's trip, even if little more than a quick "fly-by," raises a question about which department, State or Defense, is driving American policy in this region.

US-TUNISIAN RELATIONS.

In a January lecture to the American Tunisia Association (ATA) at the Meridien House in Washington, DC, Tunisian Ambassador Mohammed Nejib Hachana gave an unusually frank talk about how Tunisia views US-Tunisian relations. After stating that the two countries have a long friendship based on similar principles and values, he went on to divide the past 50-year relationship between the two countries into three periods defined strictly by how much assistance the US provided to Tunisia.

In the first period, 1957-84, USAID provided almost one-sixth of the income of the Tunisian economy. The highest level of aid was in 1960-69 during which food aid alone was $316 million. Hachana emphasized that this aid helped Tunisia maintain a "western orientation."

The second period, 1984-95, was, in Hachana's words, "the golden age of cooperation" during which the US helped Tunisia build up its infrastructure: roads, banking, education, and the private sector.

The third period, from 1995 to the present time, has seen the US phase out its non-military assistance, including the Peace Corps. However, bilateral trade and private American investment has increased. Today 50 US companies operate in Tunisia, and the US is the 13th largest market for Tunisian goods. Yet, the ambassador observed, while the US has influence in Tunisia today, it would have more if it provided more aid. The phasing out of aid, he added, looks somewhat as if "we are being punished for our success in improving our economic condition.” Yet, even if that is the way it may appear in Tunis, can the US, with its huge deficits, growing international debt, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, provide aid the way it has in the past?

RALPH HOBART.

FOT has just received the sad news that Ralph, who served in Tunisia from 1967 to 1969, died last May at his home in Barrington, Illinois. He was 60 years old.

Born in New York City, Ralph grew up in Illinois and attended Yale before joining the Peace Corps. After his tour in Tunisia, he was drafted and, in 1970, served a year as a private first class in Vietnam.

Following Vietnam, he settled in Tokyo where he married Tamie Goto of Hiroshima while also working as a news editor for a television station and earning an MBA in international business. He and Tamie then moved to Wisconsin, where he worked in sales for the Masonite Corporation until they moved to Barrington, where he worked for the La Salle Street Press of Chicago, then founded and became CEO of SOS/Sets, a printing company in Elk Grove, Illinois. Ralph leaves behind his wife, Tamie, two children, two grandchildren, two sisters, two brothers, and both parents.

BRENT BOWERS.

Much happier news! Brent was an English teacher in Gafsa in 1966-68 and in January retired after years as a business reporter and columnist for the New York Times. He has also written several books and, this spring, has another one coming out: "If At First You Don't Succeed: The Eight Patterns of Highly Effective Entrepreneurs." He currently resides in Connecticut.

TUNISIAN BLOGS.

FOT member George Entenman, who lives in Chapel Hill, NC, has discovered some Tunisian blogs popping up recently on the Internet. He suspects that some of the writers don't live in Tunisia. Some of the blogs are in English, some in French, and some in transliterated Arabic, which George says he's figuring out: "7" is the emphatic H, "3" seems to be the ain, etc. Anyway, here are a few of the blogs George has located:

http://maghreblog.net/feed/

http://www.rundom.com/karim2k/archives/002781.html

http://www.mraihi.com/blog/atom.php

George's own website is: http://george.entenman.name

INCH-BY-INCH.

Since its independence from France, Tunisia’s hallmark has been an "inch by inch" cautiousness. Although the country flirted with socialism in the mid-1960s, it soon retreated from that experiment and, thereafter, let Egypt, Libya, and Algeria take the big social, political, and economic gambles, many of which have not turned out so well. Meanwhile, Tunisia's slow-but-steady approach has paid off, at least in the economic sphere.

Such cautiousness, however, has meant a firm grip on the Tunisian press. A recently enacted law has lessened official censorship, but everyone knows there is still a high degree of self-censorship among the Tunisian press that must fear possible prosecution for "slander of the government" or similar charges for any critical reporting. However, an anchorwoman on Tunisian television, Houda Ben Othman, is trying to change that by founding a small, non-governmental organization, the "Arab African Center to Protect Journalists," to improve reporting while convincing government officials that Arab and African reporters are not out to subvert their own governments when they write critical reports.

Ben Othman admits it will be an uphill battle. In her early 30s and fluent in English as a result of study at the American University in Washington, DC, Ben Othman acknowledges that Tunisian officials are inclined to see unrestricted press freedom as disguised political opposition that will undermine basic Tunisian values and governmental institutions.

On the other hand, she faces criticism from western journalists' associations that believe press freedom should be absolute. So time will have to tell if her small organization's inch-by-inch approach, while typically Tunisian, can achieve success or, instead, will end up as just window dressing for a closely controlled system.

TWO AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES HAVE HI-TECH PROJECTS IN TUNISIA.

Two major American universities - Oregon State University and the University of Georgia - have ongoing projects in Tunisia that are intended to foster teaching through the use of computers and the internet. In both cases, Tunisian Americans have initiated these projects.

OSU’s project is headed by Professor Deborah Healey but was begun by Tunisian-American Karim Hamdy, originally from Gabes. This project is aimed at using computers to assist Tunisian teachers of specialized English – such as English for business or computer science.

The funding comes from the US Department of State and OSU. Visits have been exchanged between participants from both countries. To find out more, check out the following website: http://www.top2.eli.oregonstate.edu

UGA’s project was initiated and is run by Dr. Takoi K. Hamrita, who was born and raised in Tunisa but whose entire post-secondary education was at Georgia Tech.

This project concentrates on using computer technology to manage instruction as well as to assist and improve pedagogy. The funding is provided by the US State Department and the University of Georgia, including its school of agriculture. So far there have been six exchange visits of Americans to Tunisia and Tunisians to the University of Georgia. For more information, see: http://www.tunisia.uga.edu/Splash/Splash800x600.htm.

**NEWS OF TUNISIA***TUNISIAN NEWS****NEWS OF TUNISIA**

- March 20 will be the 50th anniversary of Tunisia's independence from France.

-Some leftist Tunisian students have issued a statement claiming that the cartoons published in Denmark are a growing form of racism in Europe.

- Late last year, the US embassy in Tunis, with $41,000 supplied by the State Department's MEPI program, brought together professors and students from Bowling Green University and Tunisian students from the Institute of Press and Information Sciences to participate in a workshop about establishing student newspapers in Tunisia. This spring the Tunisian students will travel to the US to work on the student paper at BGU.

-To encourage eco-tourism, Tunisia is re-introducing several species of animals and plants in its national parks. Notable among these is the serval, a wild cat with tiger-like, striped fur, which is being introduced in the Cap Bon National Park.

-The Tunisian handball team regained the African championship title by defeating Egypt 26-21. This is the seventh time Tunisia has held the title.

-Former Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the US, Mohamed Ben Yahia has been appointed the new secretary-general of the Union of the Arab Mahgreb.

-Water shortages are always a threat in North Africa. In 2006, the Ministry of Agriculture will set up an additional eleven desalination plants on the Tunisian coast. Already there are 66 such plants in Tunisia. The new plants will provide 80 million cubic meters of water each day.

-The oldest festival in Tunisia is Douz's International Festival of the Sahara, which features camel judging, auctions, races, etc. This festival began in 1910, and the most recent festival, in December, was the 36th such festival. It included some "intellectual and arts activities," which may have not have interested most of the attendees who are there for the camels. Go camels!

-Tunisia News, the English language weekly, has published a long article on the observations of a 19th Century British traveler to Tunisia. Among his comments: "The Tunisian Jew has been singularly tenacious of his customs; he despises the Jews from Italy, called Livornesi, [who have been] settled in Tunis for a mere century or two."

-At the 14th Festival-Convention of Arab Music in Cairo, Tunisian Anis Klibi won second prize in the violin competition, which netted him 3,000 Egyptian pounds. Klibi has played in Tunisian national orchestras since '94 and tries to encourage the playing of traditional instruments, such as the rabeb, which are in danger of disappearing

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