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 Bourguiba gave the army orders to get involved and put an end to the uprising. The troubles ended with tens of dead, or even hundreds, according to some sources. In the afternoon, Bourguiba declared state of emergency and a curfew which lasted nearly three months. Twenty months after Black Thursday was held the next congress of SPD, opened on 5 September 1979. True to its ongoing strategy not to reopen wounds, Bourguiba gave the order to move on. In his opening speech, invoking the national interest, he called "all Tunisians, despite their differences of opinion and guidance, to support state