Algeria continues “clearing mines” by receiving Senegal’s President Macky Sall

President of Senegal Macky Sall will start on Monday a four-day official visit to Algeria, at the invitation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

The Algerian Presidency said in a statement that the two sides will exchange views on topics of mutual interest in addition to Algeria’s ongoing peace efforts in North Mali and Libya.

Delegations from both sides will also discuss how best to shore up cooperation between the two countries in the economic field, the statement added.

The situation in Libya and North Mali will hold pride of place in the discussions between the two delegations with the Algerian side striving to foster a negotiated solution to the Libyan crisis through an inclusive dialogue involving the Libyan parties at issue instead of the military intervention advocated by some African countries including Senegal itself.

The Algerian side will be endeavoring to convince other African leaders to steer clear of this adventurist military approach for fear of a further exacerbation of the Libyan conflict with further nefarious repercussions on the whole Sahel-Saharan region.

In this connection and against all odds, several African leaders have urged the West to intervene in crisis-hit Libya and prevent instability from spreading across the Sahel and destabilizing fragile regional governments.

Speaking at a recent African security summit held in Dakar, Senegal, several African leaders called on NATO to help stem the flow of weapons to armed groups in the region.

Fighting between forces loyal to Libya’s internationally recognized prime minister, Abdullah al-Thinni, and self-declared Islamist groups threatens nations including Chad, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.

“The solution to the crisis that is shaking this country is not in African hands, but in the hands of the West, notably NATO,” Chadian President, Idriss Deby told the security forum in Dakar.

“Now Libya is fertile ground for terrorism and all sorts of criminals,” Deby said, adding that NATO had an obligation to finish what it started.

African states have accused the West of ignoring their concerns and say that once longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi was killed they left the country to fend for itself.

Libya has been embroiled in political infighting and violence, with two rival governments trying to fill the political void in the country.

“As long as we haven’t resolved the problem in southern Libya, there will be no peace in the region,” Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said.

Mali became one of the first collateral victims of the chaos that erupted following the toppling of Gaddafi, when armed groups, some with links to al-Qaeda terror group and armed with heavy weapons seized from Libyan government arsenals, overran the country’s north in 2012.

A French-led military intervention drove the groups out of cities and towns of northern Mali, but they mount regular attacks mainly on Malian soldiers and UN peacekeepers deployed to the country.

Senegal’s President Macky Sall said the region’s poorly equipped militaries needed more material support from the West.

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, whose country has deployed some 3,200 troops in the Sahel to tackle armed groups, said the problems in southern Libya would not be settled until a solution was found to the political crisis.

Libya has slid into chaos after Gaddafi was overthrown and killed three years ago, as interim authorities failed to confront powerful militias which fought to oust the veteran leader.