After Libya and Tunisia had already rejected the idea, Algeria came out strongly against setting up transit centers in North Africa, and particularly on its own soil, for filtering out illegal immigration. The idea was proposed by the UK, Italy and Germany during a G5 meeting at Florence.
The Algerian foreign minister, Abdelaziz Belkhadem, flatly rejected the idea in an interview over the weekend. Meanwhile, there were rumors that Morocco was at an advanced stage of negotiations on the issue of a secret transit center. Morocco is trying to win diplomatic currency over the Sahara issue, especially having lost an important UN vote last week.
Libya also officially rejects the idea but there are indications from Libyan Prime Minister, Choukri Ghanem that a pilot project on Libyan territory may actually be in operation.
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
