Brussels, 11/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - Home ministers of the western Mediterranean (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania), meeting in Algiers on 9 April as part of the “5+”, pledged to intensify their cooperation for border security in connection with the situation in the Sahel-Sahara region. The ministers of the interior of the western Mediterranean also regularly hold their so-called CIMO conference. The last meeting - the 14th CIMO - was held one year ago in Italy.
The Algerian minister, Daho Ould Kablia, who hosted the conference, said during a press conference how much he welcomed the “concrete” and “eminently positive” results of their regular work. He expressed his and his colleagues' resolve to increase coordination of effort and to set in place appropriate cooperation measures in order to eradicate the phenomenon of terrorism. The approach will be “comprehensive”, he said, adding that the fight against terrorism will be based on the rule of law, social justice, the fight against poverty, conflict settlement and conflict prevention, according to the local media. The Algiers Statement, which seals consensus reached, also places emphasis on “pooling efforts” when combating cybercrime, which is a vector for terrorism. The aim is to prevent the use of new information and communication technologies for terrorist purposes.
According to local media reports, Anna Maria Cancellieri, the outgoing president-in-office and Italy's home minister, when speaking in Algiers on Tuesday, called for new relations between the countries of the northern and southern Mediterranean, based on the sharing of cultural, social and economic values. Those new relations, she said, should also be founded on respect of national identity and on ethnic and religious differences. In their final declaration, the ministers said cooperation must be through the exchange of expertise, experience, information, analysis and assessment as well as the holding of meetings between contact points and experts. (FB/transl.jl)