Maghreb summit on June 21-22

Algerian minister of foreign affairs, Abdelaziz Belkhadem, chaired Tuesday a preparatory meeting for the Arab Maghreb Union Summit to be held in Algiers June 21-22.

"The summit must give a new impetus to the construction of the Maghreb Union," Belkhadem said, voicing his country's attachment to the union, which is "a strategic choice that would meet the aspirations of the brotherly peoples of the region."

This is the first summit for the Arab Maghreb federation, which includes Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco and Mauritania, since 1994.

The federation's various departments which was initiated in Marrakesh in 1989, have been obstructed since 1994.