Habib Bourguiba of Dar Slim, held clandestinely in Tunis in October 1948, he was now assisted by three vice-presidents whose goal was to limit the power of the president: Hedi Chaker in Tunis, Youssef Rouissi in Damascus and Habib Thameur in Cairo. Having one to the Egyptian capital to support the national struggle abroad, Bourguiba found himself, four years later, weakened politically and marginalized among the Maghrebi Committee in Cairo, exiled and isolated from Tunisia. Aware of the importance of the struggle inside the country, he decided to regain Tunis on 8 September 1949. When he returned to Tunisia, Bourguiba decided to
Habib Bourguiba Cairo, Egypt, where he lived from 1945 to 1949. However, his attempts were in vain as the Arab countries were preoccupied with Israeli–Palestinian conflict. When he returned to the country, Bourguiba found himself weakened by the ascending of Moncefism and the party's efforts to drive him away, as it restructured around Salah Ben Youssef. He became leader of the nationalist movement and decided to negotiate with France. However, the talks proved to be a total failure and Bourguiba, convinced that the rupture was confirmed, traveled the world seeking for support in order to introduce the case to the United Nations.