El Moudjahid – October 12, 2011

The ministry of Justice is organizing, in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC), a national workshop on international legal mechanisms for judicial cooperation against terrorism.

The three-day training session will enable the participants to discuss Algerian legislation on counterterrorism and international judicial cooperation. The meeting will also focus on tools provided by the international legal framework to combat this transnational phenomenon, as well as on international cooperation relating to combating financing of terrorism and the difficulties and challenges faced in the area.

Mr. Mohamed Amara, director general of Legal and Judicial Affairs at the ministry of Justice, underlined that no country can fight terrorism on its own and said that that was reason enough to deem international cooperation in the area more than necessary.

He added that this workshop tends to foster exchanges of experience and knowledge among the participating countries (Algeria, Belgium, Canada, and France) and organizations such as Interpol, which are specialized in combating organized crime, terrorism and its connections.

The ambassador of Canada to Algeria, Mrs. Geneviève des Rivières, declared that her country is “convinced that successful joint actions depend on countries like Algeria that are at the forefront of the fight.”

For his part, UNDOC representative, Mr. Walter Gehr, hailed Algeria’s contribution in the fight against terrorism and indicated that our country is the first in Africa to have ratified all 16 universals instruments against this scourge.

Mr. Gehr added that this seminar will certainly promote a strong-based international cooperation not only in combating terrorism but also organized crime.

Mr. Fahem El Mansouri, director of Interpol’s Middle East-North Africa region, said the meeting will help enrich his organization’s database and enable it to efficiently fight all forms of criminality.