From 1991 he served his first term as
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tunisia until January 1997 when he became
defense minister. He served in that position until he became foreign minister for the second time in November 1999. He remained foreign minister until November 2004, when he left the government following a cabinet reshuffle. In January 2006 he was designated to be the secretary-general of the
Arab Maghreb Union. He held this role until 2016. ==Imprisonment==