Sahara will top next Maghreb summit, says Qathafi

The Sahara issue will top the agenda of the next Arab Maghreb Union (UMA) summit, to be held after the Algerian presidential elections, said, in Tripoli Tuesday, Libya's Leader of the Revolution Colonel Muammar al Qathafi.

In a statement to the Libyan news agency JANA, Qathafi said "it is necessary to be acquainted with the efforts exerted by James Baker, personal envoy for the Sahara of the UN Secretary General."

The Libyan leader said the date of the next Maghreb summit will be set in agreement between the five member states of the Union (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania).

He described the transfer of UMA chairmanship to Libya as a "positive step," voicing esteem for president Abdel Aziz Bouteflika of Algeria "for his efforts during the Algerian chairmanship of the Maghreb union."

Libya requested on Monday the adjournment, for domestic reasons, of the Maghreban summit that was initially scheduled for December 23-24.

Despite the postponement, Libya was assigned the rotating chairmanship of UMA after Algeria insisted on handing it over. The last UMA summit dates back to 1994.

The Algiers summit could not be held mainly because of differences between the two most populated states, Morocco and Algeria, over the Sahara known as the Western Sahara.

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