Year: 2017

The European Parliament’s Socialists and Democrats (S&D Group) is exploring ways to bring progressive centre-left forces in Tunisia into the fold in order to ensure a democratic transition ahead of the country’s first post-revolution municipality election. Tunisia was due to hold its first municipality election on 17 December, its first since the 2011 revolution which overthrew dictator President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. Since then, several democratic reforms have taken place including the adoption of a new constitution, while a coalition of civil society groups was awarded the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize.…

The threat of terrorism has forced Tunisia to double the budget of its military and security expenditures, Foreign Minister Khemais Jhinaoui told the United Nations General Assembly today, stressing that more international support was needed despite the Government’s efforts to stamp out the scourge. Indeed, the world’s “hotbeds” of terrorism are fueled by poverty and war, and linked to organized crime, refugee flows and large-scale violations of human rights, and he called for a comprehensive global response to the terrorist threat. On development, Mr. Jhinaoui said Tunisia has mainstreamed the…

Tunisia’s navy rescued 78 migrants including two girls after their vessel en route to Europe took on water off the coast of Chebba and was stranded for three days, the defense ministry said Friday. Human traffickers increasingly use Tunisia as a launch pad for migrants heading for Europe after Libya’s coast guard aided by armed groups tightened its controls. “Naval forces rescued 78 illegal Tunisian migrants 70 kilometers east of the coast of Chebba on board a boat that was damaged and leaking water,” the ministry said in statement, adding…

Khemaies Jhinaoui, Tunisia’s foreign minister, used his address to the UN General Assembly meeting in New York on Friday to give strong backing to the special envoy’s roadmap for Libya. Mr Jhinaoui said Tunis was co-ordinating closely with Egypt and Algeria as Libya’s neighbours to back Ghassan Salame’s drive to revise the Libya Political Agreement by mid-December. Mr Salame presented the plan to the UN on Wednesday and has set a goal of holding presidential and political elections in the divided North African state by next year. Tunis will host the…

The Dougga gas condensate field is located in the Sicily channel in the Gulf of Hammamet offshore Tunisia in a water depth of 328m. The field is 100% owned and operated by ADX Energy (ADX), which is currently carrying out a pre-feasibility study. The company plans to drill an appraisal well on the Tunisian fieldto establish its commerciality viability. Dougga field discovery The Dougga gas field was discovered in 1981 by the Dougga-1 discovery well drilled by Shell. The discovery well encountered a 500m hydrocarbon column under a thick regional seal…