Arab Maghreb Union

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**Arab Maghrib Union**
Image:Flag of AMU.svg
Image:Union of Maghrib Arabic.GIF
Membership	5 members ¹
Official Languages	Arabic ⁴
Seat of Secretariat	Rabat, Morocco
Secretary General	Habib Ben Yahia
Official website	http://www.maghrebarabe.org

The Arab Maghreb Union (Arabic: اتحاد المغرب العربي; transliterated: Ittihad al-Maghrib al-Araby) is a Pan-Arab trade agreement aiming for economic and political unity in Northern Africa.

The idea for an economic union of the Maghreb began with the independence of Tunisia and Morocco in 1958. It was not until thirty years later, though, that five Maghreb states - Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia - met for the first Maghreb summit. The following year, in 1989, the agreement was formally signed by all member nations. There is a rotating chairmanship, which is held in turn by each nation. The current secretary-general is Tunisian diplomat Habib Ben Yahia.

However, traditional rivalries between Morocco and Algeria, and the unsolved question of Western Sahara's sovereignty have blocked union meetings since the early nineties, despite several attempts to re-launch the political process. The latest top-level conference, in mid-2005, was derailed by Moroccan refusal to meet, due to Algeria's vocal support for Saharan independence.

All countries are also members of the Arab League and, except Morocco, the African Union.

Image:Arab Maghrib Union.gif