Sahelian countries involved in the fight against al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) directed Algeria to prepare for a meeting on security in this region, which will be invited to the European Union (EU) and the United States. This meeting is scheduled in Algiers during the third quarter of 2011, said, Monday, May 29, an Algerian official.
The European Union and the United States will be invited to this meeting which will focus on "the twin problems of security in the Sahel and [to] support measures for the development of strategic projects in the countries of the region, including Trans-Sahara, "said the spokesman of Foreign Ministry of Algeria.
The trans-Saharan highway project that will link the Mediterranean to the Atlantic between Algiers and Lagos is aimed at opening up large areas of the Sahara. But the project is stalled due to lack of funding. This decision was made Friday, 20 May in Bamako, after a meeting of foreign ministers of Algeria, Mali, Niger and Mauritania, on "Terrorism and Transnational Crime" in the Sahel.
The four countries are members of the Committee of Staff Joint Operations (CEMOC), based in Algiers, had then said they were ready to fight AQIM, which threatens security in the Sahel. The terrorist organization, which has its roots in Algeria, has several bases in Mali, where it operates in several countries of the Sahel (Mauritania and Niger in particular), committing the attacks, enforced disappearances, mostly Westerners and engaging in various trades.
The North African branch of Al-Qaida continues to hold hostage since mid-September 2010, four French nationals abducted in northern Niger, and an Italian kidnapped Feb. 2 in southern Algeria. 
The European Union and the United States will be invited to this meeting which will focus on "the twin problems of security in the Sahel and [to] support measures for the development of strategic projects in the countries of the region, including Trans-Sahara, "said the spokesman of Foreign Ministry of Algeria.
The trans-Saharan highway project that will link the Mediterranean to the Atlantic between Algiers and Lagos is aimed at opening up large areas of the Sahara. But the project is stalled due to lack of funding. This decision was made Friday, 20 May in Bamako, after a meeting of foreign ministers of Algeria, Mali, Niger and Mauritania, on "Terrorism and Transnational Crime" in the Sahel.
The four countries are members of the Committee of Staff Joint Operations (CEMOC), based in Algiers, had then said they were ready to fight AQIM, which threatens security in the Sahel. The terrorist organization, which has its roots in Algeria, has several bases in Mali, where it operates in several countries of the Sahel (Mauritania and Niger in particular), committing the attacks, enforced disappearances, mostly Westerners and engaging in various trades.
The North African branch of Al-Qaida continues to hold hostage since mid-September 2010, four French nationals abducted in northern Niger, and an Italian kidnapped Feb. 2 in southern Algeria.
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