Arab states support international peace conference, if all success conditions are met, fm
Morocco-Regional, Politics, 5/29/2002

The Arab states support the proposed international Middle East peace conference, provided that "all requirements be met," Moroccan minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, Mohamed Benaissa, said.

In an interview published Tuesday with the London-based "Asharq Al Awsat" daily, Benaissa said reserves expressed by Arab states are not about the principle of holding the conference, but rather on "conditions guaranteeing its success," particularly the necessity to take into account all the foundations that preceded the Arab peace initiative since the Madrid conference.

The Arab states want the Arab peace initiative to be a platform of negotiations, he explained, adding that Arab countries unanimously insist that discussion have to cover all aspects of the peace process and are conducting contacts with European capitals, the UN secretary general and Russia.

Concerning Morocco's role in reactivating the Middle East peace process, the foreign minister recalled that King Mohammed VI traveled to several countries, including his present tour in the Middle East to put the peace process back on track and open new prospects for Arab joint action to reach a fair and comprehensive peace that guarantees the creation of a Palestinian state with Al-Quds as its capital, the liberation of all territories occupied by Israel and the settlement of the issues of refugees, water and borders.

Morocco wants the international conference to be preceded by a meeting of the foreign ministers, Benaissa said.

To a question on the Sahara issue, the head of the Moroccan diplomacy warned against any attempt to create a new entity in the Maghreb region, at the expense of Morocco's territorial integrity. He explained this will mark the prelude for the Balkanization of North Africa, since it will incite various components of the region, either in the Sahara, in the Mountains or in the plains, to call for the constitution of new entities, which will draw the region in a dangerous process of division, like in the Balkans.

Concerning the invitation extended to King Mohammed VI to attend the Arab Maghreb summit, slated for next June 21 in Algiers, he said, Morocco, which has from the onset agreed on the principle of holding the summit, will certainly be represented "at the highest level."

He expressed Morocco's wish that the summit succeeds in settling divergences among UMA member countries, activating the UMA structures and implementing projects decided at previous summits.

The UMA was set up in Marrakesh in 1989 by Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. Its activities came to a standstill in 1994 because of Algeria's baking to the Polisario separatists, who claim the independence of the Moroccan southern provinces.

For Benaissa, it is impossible to debate means to re-activate the UMA structures without addressing obstacles hindering the Union, including the Sahara issue and the Moroccan-Algerian borders.

He argued that the Sahara issue is the core of any attempts to revive the Arab Maghreb Union and is a decisive issue, not only for Morocco, but also for peace, stability and cooperation in the whole region because it is about a UMA member country's sovereignty and territorial integrity being threatened.

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