Maghreban summit postponed

The 7th summit of the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), which was to open on Wednesday in the Libyan Capital city, was postponed to provide better conditions for the gathering, Libyan official sources said in Tripoli today.

A communique of the Libyan foreign department said it was decided to postpone the summit "so that the chairman of the Union Council presidency can prepare for a brotherly climate favourable to the holding of the summit."

The postponement decision was made after consultation and contacts between the foreign ministers of the union, that musters Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.

The ministers held a meeting Tuesday morning in Tripoli in the presence of UMA Secretary General, to discuss the summit postponement issue.

Created in 1989, UMA states did not hold a summit since 1994 because of differences between member states.