King Mohammed VI will not attend UMA summit
Morocco-Maghreb, Politics, 5/24/2005

The Moroccan Foreign Ministry announced Monday that King Mohammed VI will not attend the summit of the Maghreb Arab Union (UMA) in Libya on May 25.

It was initially scheduled that the king would attend the summit after an invitation from Libyan leader Muammar al-Qathafi.

A communique of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation explained that this decision came after "surprising" official positions taken recently by Algeria with regard to the Sahara issue which is "in contradiction with the recent dynamic in the region."

The two neighbouring countries have been at loggerheads because of Algeria's backing of the Polisario Front that lays claim to the Moroccan Sahara since 1976. Tensions between Rabat and Algiers have hindered the development of UMA (grouping Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia) that failed to hold a summit since 1994, five years after the creation of the Maghreban grouping.

The Foreign Ministry release pointed out that Algeria's "stances have become increasingly waspish as the Tripoli summit came closer," noting that the Algerian position was first expressed on the occasion of President Bouteflika's tour in south America before they've become more intense two days before the opening of the summit preparatory meetings.

This stance "affects directly Morocco's top interests and is in contempt of the national feelings of the Moroccan people as they explicitly refer to a necessary 'sovereignty and independence of the Sahrawi people over its territory'."

The Algerian statements, which coincide with Polisario's threats to resume armed hostilities, back somehow, through their content, this aggressive tendency, deplored the release.

The Foreign Ministry added that Algiers position is "contrary to the efforts made by the international community to reach a political and final solution" to the Sahara issue.

"By expressing, on the eve of the Maghreban summit, unacceptable conditions to the Maghreb unity, Algeria is responsible for hampering the opportunity to re-launch the Maghreb construction at the highest level," noted the release.

"For all these consideration, His Majesty King Mohammed VI will not be able to personally attend the Tripoli summit as he had initially decided," the release went on, pointing out that Foreign Minister Mohammed Benaissa will represent Morocco instead.

The release recalled the Moroccan sovereign efforts in favor of the Maghreb construction, and that he had favorably reacted to the Libyan initiative to organize an UMA summit after an invitation of al-Qathafi who "spares no efforts to create favorable conditions for the holding and success of the summit."

Previous Stories:
  Morocco deplores Algerian statements on Sahara issue, foreign ministry   (5/23/2005)
  Algerian statements on Sahara issue do not encourage UMA activation, FM   (5/23/2005)
  Robbery and lynching by 'Polisario' separatists   (5/7/2005)
  Morocco open to every initiative to hold UMA Summit in best conditions   (5/6/2005)
  Al Khaleej : Morocco aspires to unify Maghreb peoples, minister   (8/10/2004)
  Economic integration among north African countries is a must   (4/21/2004)

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