ALGIERS -- A summit is expected in the near future to reactivate the largely paralyzed five-nation Arab Maghreb Union (UMA) linking Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia, Algerian Foreign Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem said Friday.

The UMA, created to coordinate the five Maghreb countries' political and economic strategies, has been frozen since 1995 because of a dispute with Algeria over the territory of western Sahara.

A summit scheduled for last year was postponed indefinitely.

Speaking on Algerian state television, Belkhadem said a UMA foreign ministers' session here had brought the parties closer and produced the outlines of agreement on a forthcoming summit.

A date would be fixed soon via diplomatic channels, he said.

In an indication of new determination to get the organization working again, the foreign ministers decided to prolong their one-day session to Saturday because of the "importance of the questions on the agenda, especially those concerning the organization and refounding of the UMA", APS news agency said.

The participants had spoken in favor of redynamizing and restarting the organization and holding regular summits, APS said.

Belkhadem said on TV the question of restarting the UMA was urgent, AFP reported.

Tunisian Foreign Minister Habib Benyahia likewise appealed for new impulses to galvanize the Maghreb countries' links again, including regular top-level sessions. Libyan Foreign Minister Ali Triki said the current foreign ministers' meeting was a decisive step towards holding a meeting of the five heads of state "to reactivate the UMA mechanisms concretely."

Moroccan Foreign Minister Mohamed Benaissa, whose country has been at loggerheads with Algeria, said his country was "ready to seek all means to assist Maghreb reconstruction".

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika suddenly postponed a scheduled summit in June last year after a telephone conversation with Libyan leader Mouamar Kadhafi.

The last summit was in 1994 and the UMA has been paralyzed ever since largely due to differences between Algeria and Morocco over the Western Sahara.

Morocco annexed the former Spanish territory in 1974 and Algeria has backed the pro-independence Polisario movement in the territory.

Algeria also pushed Friday to restructure the UMA to include more non-governmental groups, APS agency said.

"Algeria deeply believes that the UMA must be restructured to encourage in concept and practice the participation of civilian groups and other non-state organizations," Belkhadem was quoted as saying.