UMA secretary general says Maghreban summit to be held in algeria in november

Secretary general of the Arab Maghreb Union, Mohamed Amamou, said the UMA seventh summit will be held in Algeria next November, contradicting an earlier announcement by an Libyan official that his country would host the summit, MAP reported.

Amamou told the London based daily Asharq Al-Awsat that Algerian, Libyan, Mauritanian and Moroccan foreign ministers would hold a preparatory meeting for the summit in the first week of October.

He added that the decision was made during the meeting of the UMA follow-up committee held this May 17-18 in Algiers, in accordance with the Union laws that stipulate that the country chairing the union hosts the summit during its tenure.

Amamou also said that Libya would take the UMA rotating chairmanship after Algeria.

The same daily had reported, quoting the Libyan foreign affairs secretary of state for Maghreban affairs, Slimane Chehoumi, that Libya will host the Maghreban summit by mid-November.

The Maghreban heads of state would meet or the first time in five years. The latest summit was hosted by Tunisia in April 1994. A total of 11 agreements of cooperation in economic, trade and cultural fields were signed, in addition to a project to set up a free trade area between the five states.