Sahara States Hold
Talks On Tackling Al Qaeda
Algeria
is to host a meeting of foreign ministers from Sahara desert
states this week to finalise a joint plan of action for tackling
the growing threat of al Qaeda insurgents.
The insurgents have been kidnapping Westerners and launching
bomb attacks, exploiting the Sahara's vast empty spaces, porous
borders and a lack of coordination among the region's fractious
governments.
Algeria's decision to host the meeting appeared to indicate it
was prepared to take a bigger role in the fight against al Qaeda
in the Sahara, something most Western governments have been
urging it to do for years.
Foreign Ministers from Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Libya, Mali,
Mauritania and Niger will attend the one-day meeting on Tuesday
on the outskirts of the Algerian capital.
Algeria's Minister Delegate for African and Maghreb affairs,
Abdelkader Messahel said there would not be any development in
the Sahel region without peace and security.
The insurgents' activities in the Sahara have so far been on a
small scale, but Western diplomats say they could turn the
region into a safe haven along the lines of Somalia or Yemen and
use it to prepare major attacks further afield.
The talks in the Algerian capital will be the first high-level
meeting in years among Saharan states.
REUTERS/Williams/Yinka
