Habib Bourguiba Bourguiba met with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Jerba. This one introduced him the idea of a union between Libya and Tunisia. At the end of the interview, the Tunisian minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Masmoudi stated: "The two countries will form a single republic, the Arab Islamic Republic, with a single constitution, one flag, one president, one army and the same executive, legislative and judicial. A referendum will be organized on January 18, 1974". At the airport, Bourguiba declared to journalists: However, due to opposition inside the country and abroad, Bourguiba was forced to abandon the project, claiming the
Habib Bourguiba with Mathilde. This pregnancy reassured him as he thought he was sterile. But the relationship of the couple worsened to a point that Bourguiba left the house to sleep at his friends' place, back at the campus. On 9 April 1927, Mathilde gave birth to a boy, whom they named Jean Habib. They moved into another apartment in Bagneux, in the Parisian suburbs. Bourguiba, sick at the time, had to prepare his final exams, which he sat for a month after the birth of his son. He obtained respectively a bachelor's degree in law and the higher degree of political