Algeria-led Maghreb project announces meeting in Tunisia without Morocco

The Algeria-initiated Maghreb project, excluding Morocco, is moving forward. Tunisia will host a summit on Monday, April 22nd, between the Tunisian and Algerian presidents, and the president of the Libyan presidential council. The Tunisian presidency's press release, published on social media on Saturday, did not announce the participation of Mauritania's head of state.

The meeting in Tunis of the three Maghreb countries follows the March 3rd summit in Algiers, which brought together Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Kaïs Saïed, and Mohamed Younes El-Menfi. At the time, the presidents discussed «the situation in the Maghreb region and stressed the need to unify and intensify efforts to meet economic and security challenges, for the benefit of the peoples of the three countries».

For the record, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune justified the exclusion of Morocco: «Our western neighbors wish to join the West African Development Organization (ECOWAS), and they are free to do so», he said in an interview with local media on March 30th.