Maghreb summit to take place in Tunisia

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Tunisia will play host to the first Maghreb summit in eighteen years, President Moncef Marzouki concluded in Algiers on the last leg of his six-day regional tour.

"I hope that 2012 will be the year of the UMA," the Tunisian president told reporters in Algiers on Monday (February 13th). "We need the Maghreb Union. We will do everything for it to exist, and it is in everyone's interest."

During the two-day visit to Algiers, Marzouki met with his Algerian counterpart Abdelaziz Bouteflika and other officials. On Monday, he was honoured by Algerian newspaper Echourouk in a ceremony where the Tunisian president was moved to tears.

"The Tunisian revolution erased the dark and dim image of Arab peoples," the Echourouk Director-General said in a welcome message to the Tunisian president. "Today we are very happy to honour one of the symbols of Arab Spring."

Marzouki explained his stance on Western Sahara, which has been a stumbling block to reviving the Maghreb Union. The president said that the "issue exists and cannot be ignored", describing it as "painful at the human level".

"Once relations have improved and borders have opened, we can then go on to launch shared projects," he said. "This is essential if we are to establish a suitable psychological climate to open up channels for communication and knowledge. That will create new political and psychological conditions favourable to the resolution of this [Western Sahara] conflict in a way to preserve everyone's honour and interests."

Last week, Marzouki visited Morocco and Mauritania, where he conveyed a similar message of unity and reconciliation as well as tackling Sahel security.

During the February 9th-11th visit to Nouakchott, he met with his Mauritanian counterpart Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, other politicians, civil society organisations and youth groups.

"Tunisia and Mauritania have a joint political will to take up this challenge by holding a Maghreb summit as soon as possible," he said.

"If we activated the union, mentalities would change, and we would be able to overcome problems," Marzouki said. "The Maghreb Union was only a nominal institution in the past because dictatorships do not unite."

The president further explained his notion of Maghreb unity.

"It is no longer important whether we are Arabs, Amazighs or Africans; rather, what's important is that we belong to the Grand Maghreb with all of its richness and diversity," he said. "It has now become necessary to solve economic and social problems and create a joint space for our cultural diversity."

On the issue of regional stability, the Tunisian president backed "the consolidation of security in the Sahel to combat terrorism and organised crime as a basis for the establishment of development".

"In order to counter al-Qaeda in the region, all regional countries must adopt a security approach," he said.

Tunisia is "greatly alarmed by the current conflict" in Mali, according to Marzouki. Touaregs "are a political movement with which there must be political dialogue", he said.

"Marzouki's visit is the first step in a one-thousand-mile process to build the Maghreb Union which must be created no matter what," said Ahmed Ould Mouhamedou, head of the media committee in Mauritania's new "Surge of Youth for the Nation" political party.

"Our era now is an era of coalitions which have become necessary for any economic progress or development," he told Magharebia. "Individual entities can't keep abreast with the developments that are taking place in the world today."

According to Tunisian professor of international relations Mohamed Ben Zekri, Marzouki's tour yielded "the birth of a new political will that realises the need to build an integrated Maghreb structure that would have positive results for everyone and contribute to the progress of region".

Reactions to the Tunisian president's initiative were varied at home. While some Tunisians are eager to forge new relations with Maghreb neighbours, others remain sceptical.

Maghreb ties have been marred by division and discord for more than 30 years and cannot become ideal overnight, according to political analyst Mohamed Booud.

For his part, Slim Louati said that the fall of Tunisian and Libyan regimes and reforms in Morocco and Algeria have given the ruling regimes an historic opportunity to fulfil the dream of their peoples to build a united Maghreb.

"Leaders can now turn this dream into reality so that the Maghreb may become a vital space where a unified currency is used, people can move without gates, experiences and products are shared, and where different problems facing the region are confronted for the benefit of all Maghreb peoples," he said.

This content was commissioned for Magharebia.com.