Tunisia's President Renews Attachment to Maghreb Union

President Zine el-Abidine of Tunisia renewed his country's attachment to the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA) and recalled Tunisia's "sincere efforts" to reactivate the union construction process.

In a speech made Saturday on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of his coming to power, the president said "Tunisia has multiplied moves and made sincere efforts to reactivate the Maghreban union process and energize its structures... to make of it an efficient pole and a valid interlocutor for the international groupings our region cooperates with."

The Maghreb construction, the Tunisian president said, "is a historical claim of our peoples and a legitimate goal of our countries."

The UMA that was set up in Marrakesh in 1989 and includes Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and tunisia, is paralyzed 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.

"We rely on Maghreban leaders' sincere will and faith in the shared destiny to make the necessary stride on the path of the UMA construction," President Benali stated, expressing hope that the latest developments in the lockerbie issue would bring about a fair and honorable settlement to this problem, in order to put an end to the sufferings of the brotherly Libyan people and help establish detente in the region.

In his speech, President Benali also touched on the Middle East peace process and on the need to intensify efforts to carry on negotiations on all tracks, on tunisia's relations with the european Union, on the necessity to stimulate Inter-African cooperation as well as on a set of domestic issues.