The Moroccan diplomat Amina Salmane was appointed to the post of representative of the Arab Maghreb Union to the African Union (AU), and was received, in this capacity, on April 13, by the President of the Commission of the African Union, Moussa Faki, to whom she presented her credentials.
Unsurprisingly, Algiers contested this appointment, attacking the secretary general of the UMA, the Tunisian Taïeb Baccouche, and the president of the African Union Commission, the Chadian Mahamat Faki.
In a press release published on Sunday 16 April, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that “this irresponsible behavior is all the more unacceptable in that it comes after urgent steps by the Algerian authorities to the Commission of the African Union, in order to consider this alleged appointment which, in accordance with the texts governing the functioning of the Arab Maghreb Union, does not fall within the prerogatives of the Secretary General of the AMU, whose final mandate ended definitively on August 1, 2022, without the possibility of extension, but who by this umpteenth imposture serves the agenda drawn up by his country of residence”.
Algeria affirms “that it was never consulted about this appointment which was made outside the rules provided for by the Treaty establishing the AMU of February 1989”.
“These rules require in the case in point the unanimous vote of the Member States at the level of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the AMU, the only body empowered to rule both on this appointment and on the establishment of relations of cooperation with other regional and international groups, as provided in particular by article 6 of the Treaty establishing the UMA, articles 5 and 7 of the General Statute setting out the attributions of the Secretary General of the UMA as well as by the Presidential Council resolution dated February 23, 1990,” the statement continued.
On the side of the AU, Algiers accuses Mahamat Faki “of having yielded to an unhealthy manipulation operation, designed and implemented for purposes that in no way serve the interests of the Arab Maghreb Union and the African Union”. . Algerian diplomacy urged the president of the pan-African organization to “clarify his final position on this flagrant and unacceptable violation of protocol and legal rules, without prejudice to possible measures depending on the evolution of this case”.
For the UMA General Secretariat, the appointment was made in compliance with the relevant rules and procedures. “The appointment of Ms. Amina Selmane, Director of Economic Affairs within the AMU, comes in a context where the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) are considered by the African Union as its essential pillars in the implementation of the Agenda 2063 of the African Union, particularly in terms of economic development and integration”, noted the Union in its press release.
It is important to recall that the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) are considered by the AU as important assets in the effective establishment of the promotion of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ZLECAF) and should be the iron spearheads of the AU for the promotion of inter-African trade.
Some observers, denouncing the continuous hostile attitudes of Algeria against its neighbour, welcome the absence of any support from other countries for this approach by the Algerian authorities.
In the space of four days, Algeria attacked Morocco on two fronts, thus lengthening the very long list of its provocations and gratuitous accusations. Indeed, on April 13, the Algerian Minister of the Interior accused Rabat, without proof, of being behind a case of 1.6 million capsules of psychotropic drugs that the Algerian police allegedly seized in March in Algiers and in three other wilayas (Annaba, Ouargla and Oran).
By OMA Newsletter N° 1134 of 17/04/2023
Article published under the direction of Dr. Najib Kettani
The OMA, NGO with an Intercontinental vocation
For the development of cultural exchanges
Valuing human potential
The promotion and consolidation of Africa’s development, and
Inter-African integration
