UMA bodies to convene in Algiers starting next March
Algeria-Maghreb, Politics, 2/19/2001

Algerian foreign minister, Abdelaziz Belkhadem, announced that a series of meetings of organizations, stemming from the Arab Maghreb Union, will be meeting in Algiers starting next March.

The head of the Algerian diplomacy told Egyptian daily "Al Ahram" the meetings will be held to prepare for the Arab Maghreb Union foreign ministers meeting, slated for mid March in the Algerian capital, and for the UMA 7th presidency council.

The Algerian official who renewed that the UMA, mustering Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia, is a "strategic choice" added his country has always endeavored with "resolve and faith" to contribute to re-activating the Union.

The Union, which marked last week, its 12th anniversary has been frozen since 1995, because of divergences among its member countries, mainly strained relations between Morocco and Algeria due to this latter's direct involvement in the Sahara issue.

However, a meeting of the five countries' foreign ministers in Yaounde on the sidelines of the 21st France-Africa summit, decided to reactivate the UMA sectoral commissions and the follow-up commission, and to hold a meeting in Algiers in March.

On February 14-15, the 9th session of the Maghreban human resources commission was held in Nouakchott, Mauritania. The latest session of the commission was held in Tripoli in 1995. A week before, Rabat hosted the ministerial food security commission and two other ministerial commissions, namely those of infrastructure and economy and finance will hold meetings later this month respectively in Tunisia and Libya.

On Saturday, UMA secretary general, Mohamed Amamou, in a statement released on UMA anniversary hoped that the union will carry on its dynamic initialed by the series of meetings which started in various Maghreban capitals. Amamou said the encounters are likely to lead to an "ambitious collective vision for a better future in the Maghreb," in order to build trust and understanding among the five peoples.

The UMA secretary general hoped that UMA will emerge as a real credible and integrated development pole that would represent the whole region's interests and aspirations and reflect its strategic weight by supporting legitimate claims of a homogenous grouping in its partnership projects with Mediterranean, European and other countries, as well as within the ongoing multilateral trade talks.

After he praised the positive contribution of the region's civil society to develop the Maghreban union and promote popular awareness on its importance, he called non-governmental organizations to make proposals on the Union priorities and mechanisms.

He also renewed the Union's call for a final and immediate lifting of the anti-Libyan sanctions after a Scottish court delivered its verdict in the Lockerbie case. Libya is also entitled to obtain compensations for the human and material losses incurred as a result of the embargo which was an addition obstacle to the UMA construction process, said the UMA secretary general.

Previous Stories:
  Algeria and the Arab Maghreb federation   (2/17/2001)
  Algerian president says Arab Maghreb Union should be built on European model   (8/25/1999)
  Maghreban officials in Algeria for revival of Arab Maghreb Union   (5/18/1999)

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