King Mohammed sends written message to Tunisian president
Morocco-Tunisia, Politics, 9/14/1999

King Mohammed VI has sent a written message to president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia.

The message was handed over to the Tunisian head of state on Monday by Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Mohamed Benaissa.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed the situation prevailing in the region and called for the consolidation of the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA). Talks also covered preparations for the upcoming Maghreban summit, slated for next November in Algeria.

The decision to hold the Maghreban summit, the first in five years, was made by the UMA follow-up committee held in Algiers last May 17-18.

UMA, set up in 1989 by Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia, has been paralyzed for years due to strained relations between Morocco and Algeria over Algiers' direct involvement in the Sahara issue and due to Libya's criticism of the attitude adopted by the other UMA members in the Lockerbie crisis opposing Tripoli to Western countries.

Libya refused to host the UMA summit in 1995, because of the stand of its Maghreban partners in the Lockerbie issue. The Lockerbie issue has been recently settled after Libya handed over two Libyan nationals to stand trial in the Netherlands on charges of blowing up a U.S. airliner over Scotland in which 270 people were killed in 1988.

Recent developments in the Maghreban region, especially the settlement of the Lockerbie issue and the election of a new president in Algeria, are seen as potential factors for the reactivation of the Maghreban process.

The summit meeting is due to be preceded by a meeting in October of the five countries' foreign ministers council.

President Ben Ali and Benaissa also brought up the visit Tunisian premier is to pay to Morocco this September 19-21 to co-chair with his Moroccan peer Abderrahmane youssoufi the works of the Moroccan-Tunisian high joint commission.

Benaissa left Tunisia on Monday afternoon.

Previous Stories:
  King Mohammed VI Sends Message to Tunisian President   (9/13/1999)
  Tunisian president says King Mohammed is a powerful support to continuation of joined march   (8/26/1999)
  Phone talks between Tunisia's Ben Ali and King Mohammed Ben Al-Hassan   (7/29/1999)

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