|
Morocco king to skip Maghreb summit
 Morocco's King Mohammed VI will not attend a North African summit to be held this week in the Libyan capital, the kingdom's Foreign Ministry has said. The ministry on Monday said the reason behind the monarch's decision was neighbouring Algeria's "surprising official positions" on Western Sahara that have hurt Moroccan interests. The king will instead be represented in Tripoli by Morocco's Foreign Minister Mohamed Benaissa, government officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said.Meanwhile, Aljazeera has learned that the meeting, originally scheduled for 25-26 May, has been put off to 26-27 May after the death of the elder brother of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The Moroccan Foreign Ministry confirmed reports that the king would not attend the first gathering since 1994 of heads of state of the five Maghreb nations. "Algeria has taken the responsibility of compromising an opportunity to relaunch ... (North African) construction," the ministry statement said. Posted by: Fred 2005-05-24 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=119888 |