Algeria is hopeful Moroccan King Mohammad VI would participate in the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) summit scheduled to take place in Algiers between June 21-22, Algeria’s foreign minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem said.
During a press conference Monday, Belkhadem conveyed he had delivered invitation letters from Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to President of Mauritania Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya and Moroccan King Mohammad VI last weekend.
The Algerian Foreign Minister added that he is off to Tunisia and Libya Tuesday to deliver invitations to Presidents Zine Elabidine bin Ali and Col. Muammar al-Qadhafi, the Kuwait News Agency reported.
In response to a question on whether Morocco’s monarch had actually said he would attend the summit, Belkhadem said, "there is no reason why he would not."
This is the seventh AMU summit, which had been delayed since 1995. Rabat had then requested to freeze all AMU institutions and would not attend meetings due to Algeria's support of the exiled west Saharan Polisario front and rejection of Moroccan administration over the disputed Western Sahara.
The union includes Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Tunisia and Libya.
In a separate development, Belkhadem on Monday dismissed fears expressed in Moroccan media reports over Algeria's acquisition of new Russian weaponry.
He pointed out that developing armament and defenses is only natural and Rabat should not feel threatened. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
