Maghreban Union follow-up committee to meet in mid-May in Algiers

Foreign ministers of the five Arab Maghreb Union (UMA) member states will hold a meeting of the union's follow-up committee on May 15-16 in Algiers, the Tunisian Ashorouk daily reported.

The committee, which will assess the march of the Maghreban Union and the difficulties hampering its evolution, will pave the way for other future meetings, especially a Maghreban summit next fall in Algeria, according to the source.

The UMA, set up in Marrakesh in 1989 by Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia, has been paralyzed since 1994 due in part to strained relations between Morocco and Algeria over Algiers' direct involvement in the Sahara issue.

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