(WARNING): Article contains propaganda!
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A new military command in Tamanrasset aims to co-ordinate regional efforts against terrorism and trans-national crime.
By Walid Ramzi for Magharebia in Algiers – 22/04/10
Algeria, Mali, Niger and Mauritania joined forces Wednesday (April 21st) to fight terrorism with a new military command in the Algerian city of Tamanrasset.
The Algerian Ministry of Defense announced the formal establishment of the joint operational staff committee in a Wednesday statement. The command will implement plans developed by army chiefs of staff at the Sahel-Saharan security summit that ran April 12th-13th in Tamanrasset, according to the statement.
The "Tamanrasset Plan" calls for officials from Algeria and the three Sahel countries to co-ordinate intelligence-gathering in a campaign against terrorism, organized crime, arms smuggling and kidnapping. The plan also calls for military patrols in shared border areas to monitor and control the movement of terrorist groups.
"[The] establishment of a committee to co-ordinate among the four countries aims at drawing up a framework … to confront terrorist groups that are active across the borders of these countries, and to disrupt links among these groups and organized crime and arms and drug-smuggling gangs," security affairs reporter Jocine Boulahia said.
The Wednesday announcement marks "the first practical step toward embodying the co-ordination between these countries, which has in the past been restricted to intelligence co-operation," Boulahia said.
Multilateral co-operation has significant advantages over a unilateral approach, international relations professor Ahmed Brahimi said.
Algeria's coordination with the Sahel states "will enable them to overcome some of the problems related to fighting terrorist groups on the shared borders of these countries, and will especially enable regular forces in the countries concerned to cross the border in case of chases that don't end at [their] border", he said.
"Moreover, there is talk of ensuring the training of officers from other countries, Mauritania, Mali and Niger, by the Algerian security agencies, given their experience in dealing with terrorism," Brahimi said.
The initiative follows calls by Algerian officials for a joint anti-terrorism effort, and as well as increased regional threats from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
"Effective and multi-faceted co-operation among the regional countries is ... vital for responding to the challenges facing security and development in the region", Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci said at the opening of March 16th's conference of Sahel-Saharan foreign ministers.
Medelci stressed "the need for a firm move by the regional countries to seriously evaluate the terrorist threat, which is witnessing dangerous developments and … new dimensions with strong links between terrorist groups, organized crime networks and the illegal trade in weapons and drugs".
During the Tamanrasset meeting, Algeria's army chief of staff, Gen. Ahmed Gaid Saleh, criticized past failures to co-operate and the "absence of a unified vision".
"We will be stronger if we do it together based on close and effective co-operation, in the service of peace and stability as the guarantee of welfare and dignified living for our peoples, who are linked by the bonds of history and geography," Saleh said.
Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/04/22/feature-01.
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A new military command in Tamanrasset aims to co-ordinate regional efforts against terrorism and trans-national crime.
By Walid Ramzi for Magharebia in Algiers – 22/04/10
Algeria, Mali, Niger and Mauritania joined forces Wednesday (April 21st) to fight terrorism with a new military command in the Algerian city of Tamanrasset.
The Algerian Ministry of Defense announced the formal establishment of the joint operational staff committee in a Wednesday statement. The command will implement plans developed by army chiefs of staff at the Sahel-Saharan security summit that ran April 12th-13th in Tamanrasset, according to the statement.
The "Tamanrasset Plan" calls for officials from Algeria and the three Sahel countries to co-ordinate intelligence-gathering in a campaign against terrorism, organized crime, arms smuggling and kidnapping. The plan also calls for military patrols in shared border areas to monitor and control the movement of terrorist groups.
"[The] establishment of a committee to co-ordinate among the four countries aims at drawing up a framework … to confront terrorist groups that are active across the borders of these countries, and to disrupt links among these groups and organized crime and arms and drug-smuggling gangs," security affairs reporter Jocine Boulahia said.
The Wednesday announcement marks "the first practical step toward embodying the co-ordination between these countries, which has in the past been restricted to intelligence co-operation," Boulahia said.
Multilateral co-operation has significant advantages over a unilateral approach, international relations professor Ahmed Brahimi said.
Algeria's coordination with the Sahel states "will enable them to overcome some of the problems related to fighting terrorist groups on the shared borders of these countries, and will especially enable regular forces in the countries concerned to cross the border in case of chases that don't end at [their] border", he said.
"Moreover, there is talk of ensuring the training of officers from other countries, Mauritania, Mali and Niger, by the Algerian security agencies, given their experience in dealing with terrorism," Brahimi said.
The initiative follows calls by Algerian officials for a joint anti-terrorism effort, and as well as increased regional threats from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
"Effective and multi-faceted co-operation among the regional countries is ... vital for responding to the challenges facing security and development in the region", Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci said at the opening of March 16th's conference of Sahel-Saharan foreign ministers.
Medelci stressed "the need for a firm move by the regional countries to seriously evaluate the terrorist threat, which is witnessing dangerous developments and … new dimensions with strong links between terrorist groups, organized crime networks and the illegal trade in weapons and drugs".
During the Tamanrasset meeting, Algeria's army chief of staff, Gen. Ahmed Gaid Saleh, criticized past failures to co-operate and the "absence of a unified vision".
"We will be stronger if we do it together based on close and effective co-operation, in the service of peace and stability as the guarantee of welfare and dignified living for our peoples, who are linked by the bonds of history and geography," Saleh said.
Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/04/22/feature-01.
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