Obama says Tunisia to be non-NATO ally of US
May 21, 2015, 10:30 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is reaffirming his support for Tunisia’s transition to democracy, saying he intends to designate Tunisia as a major non-NATO ally of the United States.
Obama met with the North African country’s newly elected president at the White House on Thursday.
Only a limited number of countries have this special status as a non-NATO ally. It qualifies a country for certain privileges supporting defense and security cooperation but does not provide any security commitment to that country.
At the end of his meeting with Beji Caid Essebsi , Obama also said it will be important to try to stabilize Libya so there’s not a power vacuum that threatens Tunisia.
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