Maghreban union action assessed by Algerian foreign minister

Algerian foreign minister, Abdelaziz Belkhadem, on Monday assessed with Mohamed Amamou, Secretary-General of the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), the union's actions and the problems facing it up.

"We discussed the decisions that will be made by the UMA presidency with a view to reactivating the union's mechanisms and sectoral commissions meetings," Belkhadem told the press after the meeting.

The official said the sectoral meetings to be held in Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania will be crowned by a meeting of foreign ministers next March.

UMA was set up in 1989 by Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania.

The Union's march was blocked by differences between its members, especially between Morocco and Algeria, in view of the latter's direct involvement in the issue of the Moroccan Sahara.

Amamou underlined that Maghreban peoples are determined to materialize their union, adding that Maghreban leaders are still endeavoring to achieve this goal, despite the juncture problems that faced UMA.

Part of the drives to revive the Union, Libyan leader Moammar Kaddafi dispatched Senati Mohamed Zenati, secretary of the Libyan General Popular Congress to Algeria and Tunisia.

The envoy handed messages from Kaddafi to the Algerian and Tunisian Presidents, Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Zine Al-Abidine Benali.