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December 12, 2003

Future, Bright. Wear Shades. The Tunisian Foreign Minister Mr Habib Ben Yahia told the Daily Summit that he is "fully optimistic" about the second phase of WSIS to be held in his country in November 2005.

It would, he promised, be the "crowning of this process".

But is Tunisia an appropriate to hold a summit which should have freedom of expression?

"We have a lot at stake," the Foreign Minister told us. "We want to come out of 2005 with a consensus and a vision of what is the of Information Technology for our society."

Critics of Tunisia are not just interested in human rights, but have a hidden agenda, he suggested. However, he admitted that Tunisia still has problems it needs to address.

As a relatively new democracy, human rights pose formidable task and challenge for Tunisia, he explained. "We are not perfect, nobody's perfect in this world."

Journalists should come to Tunisia to see for themselves, he said. They would discover many websites and magazines, offering a variety of opinions. But also some of the best hotels in the world - and more sunshine than here in Geneva.

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