Excerpt from document summary
S/NF) Sakhr El-Matri President Ben Ali's son-in-law
attended a reception hosted by the Ambassador May 26. He
stayed for two hours talking with a wide variety of the
guests, especially the Americans.

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VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTU #0338 1541635
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 031635Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY TUNIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6339
INFO RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
Content
S E C R E T TUNIS 000338

NOFORN
SIPDIS

NEA/MAG FOR (MHAYES, JPATTERSON)
AND INR (TKING)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/02/2019
TAGS: PINR, PGOV, PREL, TS
SUBJECT: BIOGRAPHIC UPDATE ON SAKHR EL-MATRI, GENIAL
INTERLOCUTOR, RAISING HIS PROFILE

REF: A. TUNIS 108
B. 08 TUNIS 97689

Classified By: Ambassador Robert F. Godec for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

1. (S/NF) Sakhr El-Matri President Ben Ali's son-in-law
attended a reception hosted by the Ambassador May 26. He
stayed for two hours talking with a wide variety of the
guests, especially the Americans. He made a point of asking
who he should know and stay in contact with at the Embassy.
He was a little more reserved with the Tunisian guests,
speaking with them but only briefly before moving on. His
English was quite good and he clearly enjoyed using it. In
general, he presented himself in a low key, genial unassuming
manner even though his presence was clearly marked by the
guests.

2. (C) El-Matri's profile has been on the rise lately. He
was on the cover of the May 25 Jeune Afrique after purchasing
Dar Assabah publishing house, which publishes two of
Tunisia's main newspapers Assabah and Le Temps, thus adding
to his media empire which already includes the Quranic
Zeitouna radio. He sat directly behind President Ben Ali
during the final soccer match of the Presidential Cup, and he
was present when Minister of State and Presidential Advisor
Ben Dhia spoke to a gathering of the ruling Democratic
Constitutional Rally (RCD) in Sousse April 26 about
government's plans for the upcoming Presidential elections.

3. (SBU) During the reception El-Matri discussed his plans
for Assabah and Le Temps saying he had hired a French firm to
revamp the look of the papers and that he had hired Faisal
Battout, the AFP Bureau Chief in Doha, to be the new Editor
of Assabah. He should arrive in Tunis around 15 June.
(Comment: If Battout, who is well known to PA, is allowed to
operate independently this is a good sign for the
newspapers.) He also mentioned, in the context of discussing
the AMIDEAST program, that he had spoken to the President
about the importance of English language instruction.

4. (C) On a personal note: El-Matri revealed that he liked
exercising but not running. He said he was trying to lose
weight, and he drank Diet Coke at the reception. He also
said he was starting a new exercise regime and used that as a
reason why he had stopped smoking a water pipe. He went out
of his way to ask if his new mansion under construction next
to the Residence was blocking the sea view of any of his
neighbors. El-Matri visited Canada in May during which his
wife gave birth to a daughter and a new Canadian citizen. He
also purchased a villa at 70 Place Belvedere, Westmont
Canada, previous owner Mrs. Leslie Osmond for approximately
2.5 million Canadian dollars.

5. (S/NF) Comment: By accepting the Ambassador's
invitation and by staying as long as he did El-Matri was
showing his interest in expanding his contacts with the
Embassy. Notably El-Matri also invited the Ambassador out to
lunch or dinner, which the Ambassador accepted. The Embassy
extended the invitation to Sakhr El-Matri in the context of
an event targeted at the Ambassador's neighbors in Sidi Bou
Said and with the intent to get to know him better.
Godec