ASBU loses former DG, Slaheddine Maaoui

On December 30, 2019, Slaheddine Maaoui, the ASBU former Director General, spent the afternoon happily browsing through his Facebook account. He even uploaded a neat photo of a Tunisian neighborhood, adding an optimistic commentary: “Good start. ‘STREET OF CHANCE’, FINALLY FOUND! Good news for 2020”, he wrote. Carefree. 

Then, he felt some unease running through his chest, alerted his family and left to the nearby hospital for a quick check. There,  he fell down, unconscious. He never woke up again. Slah Maaoui passed away. He died of a heart attack on December 30, 2019, aged 69.

In January 2007, Slaheddine Maaoui became Director General of the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), a position he held following his election in December 2006 by the general assembly of ASBU for a four-year term. In 2010, he was re-elected for a new four-year term, after which the ASBU board wished to continue benefitting from his skills and created especially for him a new advisory structure: the Strategic Planning Group, where he was the President.

Slaheddine Maaoui was born on July 20, 1950 in Kairouan, Tunisia. After studying public law with a license from the Faculty of Law of the University of Tunis, he assumed functions in the information sector for several years. Recruited by the newspaper La Presse de Tunisie in 1971, he quickly rose through the ranks, becoming deputy editor in 1974 and then editor in 1978. At the same time, he was chosen as a member of the International Information Commission, which operates under the leadership of the United Nations and brings together the most reputable newspapers. He also continued to provide local correspondence for Le Figaro. In 1986, he was elected as vice-president of the International Federation of Journalists.

He also sit on the Higher Council for Communication and chaired the Tunisian Association of Newspaper Publishers. In March 1989, he was appointed director general of the Tunisian Radio and Television Establishment. He was then elected to the presidency of the Union of national radios and televisions of Africa and member of the executive council of the Union of broadcasting of the Arab States.

From February 1991 to March 1992, he assumed the functions of advisor to the President of the Republic, then those of director general of the Tunisian Agency for External Communication from February 1992 to January 19951. He was appointed head of the Ministry of Tourism, which he assumed from January 1995 to January 2001, then as Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister, responsible for Communication, Human Rights and Relations with the Chamber of Deputies, a position he held from February 2001 to May 2002. He was then appointed as ambassador to Saudi Arabia from November 2002 to December 2006.