TUNISIA: DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH QATAR COULD RESUME SOON

Tunis, 4 Dec. (AKI) - Diplomatic relations between Tunisia and Qatar could resume soon, Tunisian foreign minister Abd al-Wahhab Abdallah said Monday, stressing however that ties had never been completely severed. "God willing, everything will be fine," he said, recalling also the visit on 22 November of the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifah al-Thani, and his meeting with Tunisian president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

The foreign minister also dismissed allegations that diplomatic tensions between the two countries had been caused by reports aired by Arabic television network Al Jazeera, which is based in the Qatari capital Doha as "far from the reality of facts."

Tunisia announced the closure of its embassy in Qatar on 25 October in response to a "hostile campaign" by the network.

Al Jazeera had just published two interviews in which Paris-based Tunisian opposition activist Moncef Marzouki had called for a "civil resistance" movement against the Tunisian government.

The Tunisian foreign ministry had at the time released a statement accusing the network of a "hostile campaign aimed at hurting tunisia" and of "turning its back on truth and objectivity every time it deals with news in Tunisia."

Reports said that after the foreign minister's statements Monday the Tunisian embassy in Doha could soon re-open.