By Abdel Razek bin Abdallah

ALGIERS

Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of Tunisia’s Ennahda movement, said the Tunisian model of national reconciliation was "key" to resolving the crises now facing the Arab world.

"The principles of reconciliation and national harmony have served to extinguish fires in both Algeria and Tunisia," Ghannouchi, currently on a visit to neighboring Algeria, told Algerian state television.

"These are both examples of the successful resolution of problems through dialogue," he said.

National reconciliation, he added, "is also key to resolving the ongoing crises in Libya, Syria and Yemen".

Tunisia was the birthplace of the "Arab Spring" uprisings that swept the Middle East and North Africa in early 2011.

In 2013, Ghannouchi hammered out an agreement with Tunisia’s then opposition leader Beji Caid Essebsi under which Ennahda ceded power to a caretaker government before new elections were held.

The agreement eventually yielded a new Tunisian constitution.

On Sunday, Ghannouchi arrived in Algeria for talks with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

"President Bouteflika played a major role helping achieve national reconciliation between Tunisia’s two main political parties," he said.

In 2013, Bouteflika hosted separate meetings with both Ghannouchi and Essebsi in an effort to resolve Tunisia’s post-revolution political crisis.

Ghannouchi said his recent discussions with the Algerian leader were part of "a series of meetings aimed at improving bilateral relations [between Tunisia and Algeria] and discussing the current situation in Arab North Africa".