MAE, December 8, 2011

An international meeting on security in the Sahel, called Algiers II, is scheduled to convene “by next February” in one of the countries of the region, Minister Delegate for Maghreb and African Affairs Abdelkader Messahel announced today in Brussels.

“This meeting will probably take place in Bamako, Mali or Niamey, Niger. And other African countries will be invited,” said Mr. Messahel at a press briefing held after the meeting he and the ministers for Foreign Affairs of Mali and Niger and the Mauritanian Ambassador held with EU Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton, the High-Level Task Force, and the Executive Secretary of the European Service for External Action, Mr. Pierre Vimont.

To the first-circle countries (Algeria, Niger, Mali, and Mauritania) which form the “foundation” of countries directly concerned with security in the Sahel, Mr. Messahel added a second circle including Nigeria, Chad and Burkina Faso. “Libya, which is about to create its institutions, Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt, which are undergoing transitional processes, will also be among the participants,” he said.

According to the minister, Algiers II will consider “concrete measures” undertaken with the U.S. as well as the EU. “The region is facing a situation such that collateral damage from the Libyan crisis needs to be handled urgently,” Mr. Messahel said, mentioning control of arms proliferation in that country, where it is considered a “priority” by the new authorities, and the massive return of migrant workers who fled Libya to return to their countries (mainly Mali and Niger).

Mr. Messahel also declared that talks held in Brussels with European high-level officials also helped Mali and Niger bring up once again development projects involving their respective northern regions. “The Europeans promised to look very closely at those development projects and, why not, redirect part of their assistance to them,” he said.

A first international conference on partnership, security and development in the Sahel held in Algiers on September 7 and 8 convened the countries of the region and their extra-regional partners.

The conference had namely helped define the guiding principles needed to direct implementation of a partnership in the areas of development and security in the sub-region, primarily founded on ownership by the countries of the region of the fight against terrorism, indivisibleness of security and development, and complementarity between various strategies and approaches developed for the Sahel and the strategy designed and implemented by the countries of the region.