Chedli Klibi ( ar, الشاذلي القليبي; September 6, 1925 – May 13, 2020) was a Tunisian politician. He was

Secretary General of the Arab League This is a list of the Secretaries-General of the Arab League since its founding in 1945. List of Secretaries-General See also *Arab League {{Secretaries-General of the Arab League * Arab League, Secretaries-General Arab League The Ar ...

, and the only non-

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

ian to hold the post.

Early life

Mr. Klibi graduated with a Baccalaureat de l'Enseignement Secondaire in philosophy from

Sadiki College Sadiki College, also known as ''Collège Sadiki'' ( aeb, المدرسة الصادقية, "El-Sadqiya High School"), is a '' lycée'' (high school) in Tunis, Tunisia. It was established in 1875. Associations formed by its alumni played a major rol ...

in 1944. After graduate work at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University where he earned a degree in

Arabic language Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and literature in 1947. Having mastered the Arabic and

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

s, he lectured at the Institut des Hautes Etudes and the Ecole Normale Superieure.

Career

After becoming Director General of Radio Tunis in 1958, he became the Tunisian Minister of Cultural Affairs (1961 - 1970, 1971 - 1973, 1976 - 1978) under the chairmanship of

Habib Bourguiba Habib Bourguiba (; ar, الحبيب بورقيبة, al-Ḥabīb Būrqībah; 3 August 19036 April 2000) was a Tunisian lawyer, nationalist leader and statesman who led the country from 1956 to 1957 as the prime minister of the Kingdom of T ...

, then chief of staff to the president from 1974 to 1976 before being Minister of Information from 1978 to 1979. He also served as mayor of

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

from 1963 to 1990. As mayor, he signed a symbolic "peace treaty" with the mayor of Rome, Ugo Vetere, in 1985 in commemoration of the 2,131st anniversary of the end of the

Punic Wars The Punic Wars were a series of wars between 264 and 146BC fought between Roman Republic, Rome and Ancient Carthage, Carthage. Three conflicts between these states took place on both land and sea across the western Mediterranean region and i ...

between ancient Rome and ancient Carthage. Klibi was appointed secretary general of the

Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...

in March 1979, as a result of the

Egypt–Israel peace treaty The Egypt–Israel peace treaty ( ar, معاهدة السلام المصرية الإسرائيلية, Mu`āhadat as-Salām al-Misrīyah al-'Isrā'īlīyah; he, הסכם השלום בין ישראל למצרים, ''Heskem HaShalom Bein Yisrael ...

. In 1990, he resigned from the post without explanation. As secretary general he held three ordinary summits for the Heads of Arab States and six extraordinary summits. As member of the House of Councillors from 2005 to 2008, Klibi spent his retirement in his Carthage residence with his wife Klibi Kalthoum.

Later life

He wrote ''Orient-Occident - la paix violente'' which was published in 1999. This book was written in the form of an interview with French journalist Jennifer Moll, in which he envisages several matters involving

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and his experiences as secretary general of the Arab League.

Honours

Tunisian national medals

* : *Grand Cordon of the Order of Independence *Grand Cordon of the Order of the Republic *Grand Cordon of the

National Order of Merit of Tunisia National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

Foreign honors

* : Medal of Honor of the Republic of Algeria * : Grand Cordon of the

National Order of the Cedar National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

* : Grand Cordon of the

Order of Ouissam Alaouite Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

* : Grand Cordon of the National Order of Palestine

Publications

* ''Orient-Occident : la paix violente'', ed. Sand, Paris, 1999 * ''Habib Bourguiba : radioscopie d'un règne'', ed. Déméter, Tunis, 2012 * (''Tunisia and Arab anxiety factors''), ed. Sud editions, Tunis, 2020

References

External links

"Danger of division, ''Humanity'', September 5 1990
1925 births 2020 deaths Secretaries General of the Arab League Government ministers of Tunisia Alumni of Sadiki College Socialist Destourian Party politicians People from Tunis {{Tunisia-politician-stub