TRIPOLI, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Taieb Baccoushe, secretary-general of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), on Sunday urged the UN-backed Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Serraj to end the deadlock of the union by holding a summit.

Baccoushe made his remarks during a meeting with Serraj in the Libyan capital Tripoli.

"Baccoushe said he hoped to call upon the prime minister to hold a Maghreb summit to end the deadlock in the union, with Libya presiding over it," the prime minister's media office said in a statement.

Baccoushe added that the union's secretariat had not ceased to work and is conducting studies and proposals that would serve the desired integration among AMU member states, the statement said.

Serraj expressed regret for the deadlock of the AMU, while adding that he would make practical efforts through consultation to overcome the obstacles preventing the holding of a summit.

Serraj also hoped that the union members would respond to his efforts to hold the summit in Tripoli, so that it "will be the beginning of genuine activation of the union's institutions."

The AMU, consisting of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania, was established in 1989 in Morocco to promote economic and cultural cooperation among member states.