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Article: Five-country Maghreb union a `paper camel'.(World)(Briefing/Middle East)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- November 15, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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TUNIS, Tunisia - Despite ringing appeals for unity, the North African nations known as the Maghreb - "the place where the sun seats" - seem to be drifting apart.
Ethnic and religious bonds notwithstanding, their planned union is plagued by such strong divisive factors as different ideologies, political cultures and attitudes toward Islamic fundamentalism, as well as frontier disputes.
Initially, Maghreb was a term used to describe the former French protectorates of Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria - the latter was considered to be part of France until its 1962 independence.
The founding charter in 1989 of what is now known as the Arab Maghreb ...