Tunisian Premier:My Visit to Qatar will Cover all Aspects of Cooperation

Tunisia, April 25 (QNA) - Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali has announced that he will pay a visit to Qatar as part of a Gulf tour, stressing that his country aims to enhance relations in the Arab region especially GCC states. In an exclusive interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), Jabali said his planned visit to Doha in next May comes to return the favour of brothers in Qatar, led by HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, , who supported the revolution of Tunisia and continues to support Tunisia economically. He said "We find that Qatar is in a special place before and after the revolution because it embraced our strugglers and stood by our side. We still remember these good efforts and will continue to communicate and meet with our brothers." Jabali added that he will carry with him to Qatar files of joint investment and cooperation, which covers almost all areas, stressing his confidence that his visit would succeed at all levels, thanks to the strong relationships between the countries and the firm and sincere desire by the Qatari leadership to support and strengthen the two countries bilateral and fraternal relations. He explained that the files to be discussed in Doha will cover new cooperation projects, economic issues and cooperation in the sectors of energy, tourism, industry, infrastructure, employment and manpower. In his interview with QNA, the Tunisian premier said that his country's interest in strengthening its relations with Arab countries is part of the correction of the previous regime's policy which he described as wrong and unfair towards Arab and Muslim brothers, adding that the previous regime paid no attention to Tunisia's Arab dimension thus weakened these relations which became marred by a kind of chill and mistrust. He said that Tunisia sees that relationship with the Arab brothers, especially GCC countries, as an important cornerstone of its foreign policy, as it is based on integration, consultation and solidarity, and not necessarily at the expense of other policies or trends. The Tunisian premier underlined that the support provided by the brotherly and friendly countries for his country stems from the keenness of these countries on supporting the democratic experience of Tunisia after years of dictatorship. He said in a related context, "This support is not conditional, as promoted by some parties or the result of any pressure, as the current government of " freedom fighters " did not bow in the past to threats and prison of the regime of former President (Zine El Abidine) Ben Ali and it will not accept any dictats from abroad." Jebali meanwhile stressed that Tunisia welcomes this support, saying the backing of the democratic experiment is in the interest of everyone, whether Arab brothers or friends in Europe and the United States of America. On the nature of Tunisia's relations with the United States which announced a U.S. $ 100 million in assistance to the state treasury, Jebali, who belongs to Al-Nahdha Party, said the U.S. administration considers that the success of this experiment will serve its interests. He said the United States was for the view that democracy supports its interests and it is best to deal with democratic systems after it tried wars and the resulting losses in lives and material damage, and that the alternative to democracy is the return to dictatorship and the logic of war." With regard to the achievements of the current government four months after its formation, Jebali acknowledged that the achievements of the national coalition government, were not at the level of ambition and expectations of the people, but he noted that demands of the citizens could not have been fulfilled within such a short period of time, saying that the government is serious, progressing in practical steps and making some achievements, the most important of which was the positive indicators recorded by the Tunisian economy and a number of other sectors, explaining that the growth rate exceeded 8.1 percent after it was below zero before the elections in October 23.(QNA)