The
Arab Maghreb Union ( ;
transliterated: Ittihad
al-Maghrib al-Araby, ) is a
Pan-Arab
trade agreement aiming for economic and political unity in
North Africa.
Creation
The idea
for an economic union of the Maghreb began
with the independence of Tunisia
and Morocco
in
1956. It was not until thirty years later, though,
that five Maghreb states - Algeria
, Libya
, Mauritania
, Morocco, and
Tunisia - met for the first Maghreb summit. The
following year, in 1989, the agreement was formally signed by all
member nations. According to the Constitutive Act, its aim is to
guarantee cooperation “with similar regional institutions... [to]
take part in the enrichment of the international dialogue...[to]
reinforce the independence of the member states and ...[to]
safeguard...their assets....” Strategic relevance of the region is
based on the fact that, collectively, it boasts large phosphate,
oil, and gas and it is a transit centre to southern Europe. The
success of the Union would, therefore be economically
important.
Organization
Within the Arab Maghreb Union [AMU] there is a rotating
chairmanship, which is held in turn by each nation. The current
secretary-general is Tunisian diplomat
Habib Ben Yahia.
Members
- (1989)
- (1989)
- (1989)
- (1989)
- (1989)
During the 16th session of the UMA Foreign ministers, held on
12 November 1994 in
Algiers, Egypt formally applied to join the UMA grouping.The
Western Sahara conflict is pending of resolution.
Operations
There have been problems of traditional rivalries within the AMU.
For
example, in 1994, Algeria decided to
transfer the presidency of AMU to Libya.
This
followed the diplomatic tensions between Algeria and other
members, especially Morocco and Libya, whose
leaders continuously refused to attend AMU meetings held in
Algiers. Algerian officials justified the decision, arguing
that they were simply complying with the AMU constitutive act,
which stipulates that the presidency should in fact rotate on an
annual basis.
Algeria accepted to
take over the presidency from Tunisia in 1994, but
could not transfer it due to the absence of all required conditions
to relinquish the presidency as stipulated by the constitutive
act.
Following the announcement of the decision to transfer the
presidency of the Union, the Libyan President,
Muammar al-Gaddafi, stated that it was
time to put the Union “in the freezer”. This raises questions about
Libya's position towards the Union.
The concern is that Libya will have a
negative influence on the manner in which it will preside over the
organisation.
Moreover,
traditional rivalries between Morocco and Algeria, and the unsolved
question of Western
Sahara
's sovereignty have blocked union meetings since the
early nineties, despite several attempts to
re-launch the political process. The latest top-level
conference, in mid-2005, was derailed by Morocco's refusal to meet,
due to Algeria's vocal support for
Saharan independence.
Western Sahara is a former Spanish colony south of Morocco that was
invaded by the kingdom and Mauritania in 1974. Algeria has
continuously supported the liberation movement,
POLISARIO.
Several attempts have been made, notably by the
United Nations, to resolve the Western
Saharan issue. In mid-2003, the UN Secretary General’s Personal
Envoy,
James Baker, proposed a
settlement plan, also referred to as the Baker Plan II. The UN’s
proposal was rejected by Morocco and accepted by Algeria. As far as
bilateral attempts are concerned, very little has been achieved, as
Morocco continues to refuse any concessions that would allow the
independence of Western Sahara, while Algeria maintains its support
for the self-determination of the Sahraouis.
In addition, the quarrel between Tripoli and Nouakchott does not
make the task of reinvigorating the organisation any easier.
Mauritania has accused the Libyan Secret Services of being
involved in a recent attempted coup against President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed
Taya. Libya has denied
the accusation.
References
Francesco Tamburini, L’Union du Maghreb Arabe, ovvero l’utopia di
una organizzazione regionale africana, en "Africa", N. 3, 2008, p.
405-428
Notes and References
- Aggad, Faten. "The Arab Maghreb Union: Will the Haemorrhage
Lead to Demise?" African Insight. April 6, 2004.
- Ibid
- Le Quotidien D’Oran. 2003. Le Maghreb en Lambeaux.
23/12/2003. p 1
- Aggad, Faten. "The Arab Maghreb Union: Will the Haemorrhage
Lead to Demise?" African Insight. April 6, 2004.
- Le Quotidien D’Oran. 2003. La Libye Dement Avoir
Finance un Plan Presume de Coup d’Etat en Mauritanie. 21 December.
p 9
See also
External links
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