Achour, Habib (1913–1999)

Tunisian trade union leader and politician. He joined the nationalist Néo-Destour party in 1934 and with Farhat Hachad formed the Union Générale des Travailleurs Tunisiens (UGTT) in 1946. A veteran militant of the party, he, however, strongly opposed the participation of the UGTT in politics in the early years of independence. Co-opted onto the Néo-Destour political bureau, he became afterwards the union's secretary general 1963–66 and 1970–78. Accused of having instigated the anti-government riots in 1978, he was put to trial and sentenced to ten years' hard labour. Pardoned and released in 1981, he was reinstated as president of the UGTT.