Morocco presents candidate for Union for the Mediterranean scribe

Rabat, Morocco - Morocco has officially presented the candidature of the country’s Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Minister Youssef Amrani for the position of Secretary-General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UPM), reliable sources told PANA here Tuesday. The sources said Arab countries are unanimous in backing the Moroccan candidature and in presenting to the European party a single Arab candidate. A meeting of senior officials from UPM member countries is scheduled for 25 May in Barcelona (Spain), where the organisation is based, and a new Secretary-General could emerge at the meeting.

UPM has been without a Secretary-General since the resignation in January of Jordanian Ahmed Massa'deh.

UPM, established on 3 July 2008 at the initiative of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, brings together 43 member countries, as well as Turkey, Israel and Arab countries bordering the Mediterranean sea.

It is aimed at developing projects in environment, transportation, energy, culture, education, as well as to instil a new dynamics into the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation.