Addis Ababa — Caretaker President Moncef Marzouki said on Saturday that Tunisia's participation in the twentieth Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is likely to boost its African belonging.

In a statement to TAP news agency's special envoy in Addis Ababa, President Marzouki underlined that the evolution of the situation in Mali had unavoidable consequences on the Arab Maghreb region, estimating that the recent terrorist attacks against the In Amenas Gas Plant in Algeria, with the participation of elements of different nationalities including Tunisians, reflects the seriousness of the security situation and implies the need to co-ordinate between the countries concerned by this file including Tunisia.

"Tunisia is facing, like other countries of the region, the consequences of the Malian crisis," he said, which needs to "take the necessary preventive measures to the protection of its national security."

He added "Tunisia perfectly understands the French military intervention at the request of the Malian legitimate government and in conformity with the United Nations resolutions, but it remains imperative to end the operation as soon as the reasons become unjustified."

In another connection, President Marzouki voiced hope to see that the Addis Ababa Summit ends up with concrete recommendations to put an end to the deterioration of the situation in Mali and contribute to energise the capacities of the legitimate government to rule the country's affairs and guarantee the protection of the citizens.

As regards the Tunisian proposal providing for the creation of an international constitutional court, Mr. Moncef Marzouki said that this initiative was favourably echoed by a large number of African countries who expressed the will to support this proposal aimed to boost the democratic mechanisms and the rule of law and institutions on the international level.

"It is important that the African group provides support to this initiative during the Addis Ababa Summit as a first step towards a mobilisation in this regard during the works of the United Nations General Assembly to be held next September in New York", concluded President Marzouki.