Ben Ali calls for founding of a world solidarity fund

Tunisian President Zein al-Abidin Ben Ali called on all world leaders and international corporations to establish a world solidarity fund that would "collect donations and voluntary contributions and use them in the struggle against poverty and for the development of the most deprived regions in various parts of the world, particularly the most disadvantaged countries and the countries in the grip of various scourges and crises."

In his speech delivered yesterday at the closing of the annual conference of the heads of Tunisia's diplomatic and consular missions, Ben Ali said: "Tunisia will make the most of its contacts with brotherly and friendly countries, and of its presence within the U.N. bodies and other international organizations to enlist support for this humanitarian project, and help towards its clarification and early implementation."

Concerning Tunisia preparing to have a seat un the UN Security Council and its perception of work in it, Ben Ali said, "Our country's activity at international and United Nations levels is the product of immutable constants, namely the commitment to the United Nations Charter and the principles enshrined therein which serve the cause of peace, security and understanding among peoples, and propagate tolerance, mutual respect and the spirit of dialogue, cooperation and solidarity for just and equitable development; all this in the context of international legality which does not accept the policy of double standards or the selective and discriminatory attitudes."