Union du Maghreb :

[Al-khiyal]

TRIPOLI, May 03 -- The Libyan leader and current chairman of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), Moammar Kadhafi, and President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria, have discussed the AMU and African Union (AU) processes during a phone conversation between them.

The discussion between the Libyan leader and the Algerian president also focused on several international issues of common interest.

A Libyan official source indicated that the two leaders' conversation was part of the permanent coordination and consultation process between Kadhafi and Bouteflika.

Kadhafi, Bouteflika examine AMU and AU processes

[Al-khiyal]

ALGIERS,05/08 - Algerian and Mauritanian leaders on Sunday agreed that it is important to push forward the process of the regional economic integration of the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA).

Compared with the regional integration progress in other parts of the world, the UMA has been left behind, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said at the meeting with Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, leader of Mauritania`s Military Council for Justice and Democracy.

Bouteflika said that the UMA`s progress requires the joint efforts of all member countries, Radio Algerienne reported. Describing the creation of the UMA as a historic event, Vall echoed that expediting the UMA`s progress is an irreversible strategic option, which is conducive to regional stability and development.

The leaders also discussed bilateral cooperation in energy, mineral and fishery.

The UMA was launched in 1989 by Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunis. The organization is aimed at coordinating social development and economic cooperation among members before ultimately achieving an economic integration.

Yet, the UMA has been moving sluggishly in achieving progress due to a string of problems.

Algerian, Mauritanian leaders call for further UMA progress

[Al-khiyal]

ISN SECURITY WATCH (Wednesday, 21 June 2006: 15.09 CET) – Foreign ministers from five north African countries met in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Wednesday in a bid to revive the moribund Arab Maghreb Union (UMA).

The meeting between the representatives of Mauritania, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia. Morocco and Algeria was chaired by Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgham, according to the JANA news agency.

The Associated Press (AP) reports that the union, a trade pact designed to unite the economies of the five signatory states, has been paralyzed by ongoing tensions between Morocco and Algeria.

A scheduled UMA summit last year was cancelled after Moroccan King Mohammed VI refused to attend because of the Western Sahara dispute.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Mohammed Ben Issa told JANA that his country supported "reactivating the UMA so that it can become a group that assures security, peace and development in the region."

Tunisian Foreign Minister Abdelwahab Abdullah told reporters that it was "important that member countries of the UMA coordinate their positions with regard to European policies and relations with neighboring countries."

In comments carried by the AP, he stressed the "need to defend the Maghreb émigré community's rights and dignity in the face of organized crime and illegal immigration, as well as to establish a free trade Euro-Mediterranean zone in 2010."

The UMA was established by the Treaty of Marrakesh in 1989 in an effort to foster both economic integration and political unity on issues of common concern.

Wednesday's UMA meeting is the first since 1994. The organization has been hamstrung by a dispute between Algeria and Morocco over phosphate-rich Western Sahara, invaded by Morocco and Mauritania in 1975 after colonial power Spain ended its occupation. Mauritania subsequently withdrew its forces

The pro-independence Polisario Front, and its predecessor Harakat Tahrir, fought Spanish, Mauritanian and Moroccan troops in the territory for decades.

A 1991 UN-brokered ceasefire guaranteed a vote on Western Saharan autonomy after a five-year transition period. The planned referendum foundered over a dispute concerning who qualified as an indigenous voter and there has been little progress towards a political settlement in recent years.

>>>Source<<<

[Al-khiyal]

July 22, 2007 -- The Secretary General of the Maghrebi Union can be hopeful about the possible holding of the deferred Maghrebi summit before the end of the year. However, the time lapse between the last summit held in 1994 and the one that did not see the light is not encouraging. The is at least due to the fact that the three leaders, Algerian President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika, the Moroccan King Mohamed VI, and the Mauritanian President Wild Cheikh Abdullah, did not meet around a Maghrebi roundtable, even though they constantly assert their commitment to the pending Moroccan structure.

It is obvious that President Bouteflika, who was reported saying today that the Maghrebi Union is an association of presidents, did not realize that the scheduled date for hosting any Maghrebi Summit was not met. This is notwithstanding the fact that the Maghrebi ideology, particularly the veneration of historical, linguistic, and religious ties, has prevailed in his speeches. The truth is that his Moroccan neighbor King Mohamed VI based his PhD at a French University on the project of integrating the Maghrebi and European Unions. However, this was prior to the divergence between theory and practice. It does not seem that Libyan President General Moammar Qaddhafi, who fantasized about the farthest African states, is presently drawn to the closest Maghrebi states that are not separated by geographic but rather intricate political boundaries. As for the Tunisian and Mauritanian stances, they are bound by the self-sufficiency principle, since the Maghrebi alternative has been ruled out.

It is in the nature of politicians to be optimistic; they are similar to the gardener who plows the land upon seeing the first cloud and awaits the harvest season. The optimism of the Secretary General of the Maghrebi Union stems from the fact that he tracks down developments that entail a revival of the Maghrebi theory. The latest embodiment of the latter is that the dialogue between Algeria and Morocco has become bipartite, though it is still subject to achieving the necessary progress with respect to the negotiations on the Sahara struggle. In addition, there is a need to coordinate and share information in order to face the increasing attacks and terrorist warnings.

One of the hurdles that probably hindered consensus is that Algeria's position vis-à-vis the power struggle and counter-terrorism was an exceptional case in the region. This is before "Al Qaeda" ingrained its teeth, claws, and threats in the Islamic Maghreb. But the most imminent dues for the North Africa region lie in putting forth two projects. The first one is the Central Union, espoused by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy to link the region with the larger dimensions for the sake of security and peace in the Great Mediterranean. The second is the plan of US President George Bush to establish a base for the US forces in Africa. It is most likely that as much as these two projects are related to the convergence between the new French approach and the pivotal scope of the US strategy in North Africa, as much as the gaps between the countries of the region, particularly Algeria and Morocco, are narrowing down. One explanation would be that the balance of their bilateral relations has succeeded in striking a more comprehensive balance in the relations with the European and American partners.

The drawback of the Maghrebi Union is that it was established as a result of a governance decision based on political and economic necessities. These in turn were dictated by the first signs that marked the close of the Cold War at the end of the 80's. But it lacked the support of the public, which did not accept the idea of a pending Shoura Council. With the blowing of democracy breezes on the Moroccan atmosphere, political parties, cultural centers, and civil society organizations are in desperate need to embark upon dialogue, understanding, and consolidation of the basis of economic cooperation that withstands the political shakes. As such, the Maghrebi project will not remain out of public reach. Historically, the Maghrebi structure was first founded by the people on the basis of coordination and solidarity between the Maghrebi Liberation Movements in standing up to colonionalism. It is likely that the path towards independence, which differs from one country to another, is no longer encumbered by contradiction and opposition, as long as the path towards the future is the same.

Should we be optimistic vis-à-vis the Maghrebi summit?

[Al-khiyal]

December 2, 2007 -- A meeting of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) foreign ministers kicked off Friday (November 30th) in Rabat. Participants discussed the major challenges union member countries are facing, including illegal immigration, terrorism and desertification, as well as international challenges such as globalisation. All the participants stressed the necessity of developing regional co-operation, which requires strong political will and economic vision.

At a press conference on the sidelines of AMU foreign minister conference, Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi-Fihri told the press that the AMU would hold a meeting with Euro-Mediterranean dialogue participants Spain, France, Italy, Malta and Portugal in Morocco in January.

Maghreb Union ministers gather in Rabat

[Al-khiyal]

Union du Maghreb : le verrou sahraoui

Mercredi 27 Février 2008 -- Parce qu’elle est le gendarme du monde, pour de «nobles desseins» démocratiques, l’Amérique joue, de temps à autres, un rôle, plus modeste, de modératrice dans les grands conflits – ces plaies béantes legs du colonialisme – comme elle tente de le faire, sans grand succès jusqu’ici, dans le Maghreb.

Le culte de la puissance qui civilise permet de faire l’économie de la compréhension du «phénomène» de la décolonisation. Or, le Sahara occidental est un pur problème de décolonisation, transcendant largement les petits soucis de leadership entre les deux «frères ennemis» de la région. Mais quand le souci politique – l’idée convenue de vivre et de bâtir en commun un grand espace maghrébin – disparaît, que reste-t-il sinon la rancœur et le ressentiment ?

La suite de l’aventure maghrébine, de vénérables réunions au sommet en échecs quotidiens des politiques d’intégration esquissées, n’est remarquable ni par l’exploitation de ses qualités indéniables, ni par la retouche des ses défauts permanents. L’incapacité récurrente des leaders maghrébins de s’accorder sur un programme minimum commun, comme celui de désamorcer la «bombe» sahraouie avant qu’elle ne cause des dégâts profonds à l’ensemble de la région.

L’avantage du mythe de l’intégration maghrébine, c’est qu’il est tout à fait gratuit. Il ne signifie pas la construction de routes et barrages, ni l’ouverture de voies de chemin de fer de part en part du Maghreb, ni le financement de projets mutuellement profitables aux populations maghrébines, ni la dotation de laboratoires de recherche en équipements de pointe utiles à l’effort de relance économique dans cet espace que les experts promettent à un avenir prometteur si, et seulement si un embryon d’accord politique se dégage, enfin, entre ces dirigeants à l’ego surdimensionné.

Ces dirigeants qui sont le principal obstacle à la construction de ce «Maghreb des peuples» sujet à louanges creuses pour l’heure. Financer la propagande aux accents sinistrement guerriers est beaucoup plus avantageux pour ces «sages» leaders que financer les organes nécessaires à l’instauration d’un marché commun maghrébin. En l’état de paralysie de la carcasse sans âme de l’UMA, l’intervention de la diplomatie américaine n’est rien sans la volonté des dirigeants maghrébins à dépasser leurs différends actuels. Et, avant tout, sauter le verrou sahraoui…

[Al-khiyal]

Rabat gives thumbs-up to reactivation of the Arab Maghreb Union

Rabat, Morocco, March 6, 2008 (PANA) - Moroccan Minister of Communication, Khalid Naciri said on Thursday that his country was in favour of any initiative to reactivate the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), a sub-regional grouping established in Marrakech in February 1987 comprising Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania.

"It is self-evident that we are quite open to joint action from the Maghreb which must indeed be reactivated as quickly as possible in a bid to be in tune with the expectations of our peoples," Mr Naciri, who is also government spokesman, said at his weekly news briefing in Rabat.

He was reacting to the wish expressed by Tunisia and Mauritania to quickly hold a summit of AMU heads of state.

Mr Naciri said Morocco would readily go with "whatever is likely to favour fraternity, Maghrebine integration and cooperation between the peoples of the Maghreb".

The holding of a Maghrebine summit was raised on Wednesday in Tunis in talks between Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his Mauritanian counterpart, Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.

The two heads of state expressed their willingness "to give new impetus to the mechanisms of the Maghrebine Union and to boost the institutions".

The last summit of AMU heads of state dates back to 1994. The integration process is handicapped by the discord between Algiers and Rabat over the Western Sahara dispute.

The former Spanish colony, Western Sahara, has been under Morocco's control since 1975. The territory is claimed by the Polisario Front, a pro-independence movement backed by Algeria.