Libyan official stresses existence of political will to reactivate UMA structures
Libya-Maghreb, Politics, 5/14/2005

Libyan envoy, Said Eribi Hafiana said, here Friday, there is "a political will to reactivate the structures of the Arab Maghreb Union" (UMA), wishing the ongoing efforts in this respect be up to the aspirations of the region's people to unity and complementarity.

"Every time the issue on combining human and economic resources part of the Maghreban complementarity is raised, Morocco always comes to mind," said the envoy of Libyan leader Muammar al-Qathafi following a meeting with King Mohammed VI of Morocco.

Hafaiana who is Assistant-Secretary General of the Popular Committee for Foreign Relations and International Cooperation (Foreign Ministry) said he conveyed a message from President Kadhafi to the monarch dealing with the UMA upcoming summit due late this month in Libya.

Morocco recently said it is open to any initiative to hold the summit in the best conditions.

Morocco and Libya, together with Algeria, Mauritania and Tunisia, are members of the Arab Maghreb Union, known by its French acronym UMA.

The North African regional grouping, set up in 1989 in Marrakech, is facing a stalemate due to divergences between Morocco and Algeria which supports the Polisario, a separatist movement that claims the separation of Moroccan southern provinces, the Sahara, from the rest of the Kingdom.

UMA held its latest summit in Tunis in 1994.

Previous Stories:
  Maghreb foreign ministers wind up meeting, Libya accepts to keep UMA chairmanship   (12/21/2004)
  Qathafi agrees to continue his presidency for the Maghreb Union   (12/20/2004)
  Arab Maghreb federation's foreign ministers will meet today in Tripoli   (12/18/2004)

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