Algérie Presse Service (APS) – January 22, 2012
Combating AQIM and Boko Haram terrorist organizations is on the agenda of a meeting scheduled for January 23 and 24 in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott and regrouping the foreign ministers of the countries of the Sahel region (Algeria, Niger, Mali and Mauritania) as well as Nigeria.

The Nouakchott meeting is going to be expanded to include Nigeria in order “to review the connections between AQIM and Boko Haram,” said Minister Delegate for Maghreb and African Affairs Abdelkader Messahel.

The Nouakchott meeting is part of a series of twice-yearly meetings scheduled to take place between the foreign ministers of the Sahel countries and is being convened on the wake of the meetings that took place in Algiers in March 2010 and Bamako, Mali, in May 2011.

Moreover, Mr. Messahel indicated that a presentation on terrorist threat will be made by FLU (Fusion and Liaison Unit) officials. FLU is a mechanism regrouping the heads of the intelligence services of the respective countries of the Sahel region.

CEMOC (Joint Operational Staff Committee) officials will also make a presentation of military coordination on the ground. The Nouakchott meeting will also provide an opportunity to discuss the “Algiers 2” conference which will “probably” convene during the first quarter of 2012 in the Malian capital of Bamako “to ensure continuity of the strategy established with our American and European partners,” added Mr. Messahel.

The meeting will also involve an assessment of the visits made to Washington and Brussels by the foreign ministers of the four Sahel countries, which are considering a “restructuration” of the mechanism. Assessing the achievements made by the countries’ partnership, the minister delegate said that it “starting to bear fruit,” namely with regards to intelligence sharing, training and logistics.

Addressing the partnership with the United States and the European Union, the minister said the countries of the Sahel “insist a lot” on the security topic, namely intelligence sharing, training and logistics.

“We have sensitized our partners to the issue of development,” he added. Responding to a question on a likely integration of Morocco in the group of Sahel countries, Mr. Messahel said that, until now, they have never been asked “either directly or indirectly” about including other countries in their group.

The minister noted that the countries of the Sahel region are those located north of Mali, where the “sanctuary” of the terrorist groups is located. “The fight against terrorism directly concerns the four countries of the region; all our partners know and accept that,” he said. Mr. Messahel added that the Nouakchott meeting is going to help assess the consequences of the Libyan crisis for the Sahel countries as well as the two components of the regional strategy, i.e., security and development.