Beefed-up inter-Arab Security and intelligence cooperation to head off terrorism expansion

Algeria called on the Arab countries to shore up the level of security and intelligence coordination and highlighted the imperious need to exchange information periodically and proactively in anticipation of any emergency in order to contain the infiltration of terrorist groups that are using modern technologies to implement their nefarious plans aimed at dealing a blow to the security and stability of countries and peoples.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika warned on Wednesday against the danger of Internet virtual space, which has become a security challenge for Arab countries as it is a haven for terrorist organizations and all criminal networks, especially those that are active in trafficking in human beings, illegal immigrants, drugs, weapons, explosives and falsification of identities and documents.

“Alongside the traditional cells that always remain the basis of terrorist groups and whose names have been different, spurious terrorist cells have been active on the ground,” the President of the Republic said in a message to the participants on the occasion of the opening of the 35th session of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers in the capital Algiers, and read out on his behalf by the Minister of the Interior and Local Assemblies and Country  Planning Mr. Noureddine Bedoui. 

Social networking sites and other networks used to carry out acts of incitement, recruitment, fundraising, hacking of websites and launching cyber attacks on websites of Government or private institutions with the aim of damaging them should be closely monitored and countered”, he underlined to this effect.

Concurrently, Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia stressed for his part that there are new challenges and dangers in the Arab and international arenas, such as cybercrime, illegal immigration, human trafficking and the use of the Internet to recruit young people into terrorist networks while stressing the need to work proactively and striking with an iron hand, all those who beg to tamper with the stability of the region.

PM Ouyahia added that  the importance of coordinating efforts in the field of strengthening the foundations of security and peace and combating crime in the Arab region through the exchange of information and security cooperation are a vital necessity for all the countries of the Arab world.

According to Mr. Ouyahia, the Arab world in general is facing “hegemonic calculations and maneuvers, whether regional or with a wider dimension, adding that such calculations and maneuvers have been fueling a number of crises that are destabilizing and draining the countries’ potential.” He pointed out that the Arab  world is more targeted than ever before in its stability and security.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Interior of Tunisia, Lotfi Ibrahim, praised the high degree of security coordination with Algeria, which he described as excellent. 

The Libyan Interior Minister, Commissioner in the government of national reconciliation Abdel Salam Mustapha Achour, pointed for his part to the existence of high-level security coordination between Algeria and Libya in a bid to secure the border and ward off the infiltration of armed groups, noting that the parties at issue in Libya are convinced of the sound Algerian approach to resolve the Libyan  crisis through an all-inclusive dialogue.

In their final communiqué, the participants in this 35th session of the Arab interior ministers’ council called for increased inter-Arab coordination so as to prevent terrorist gangs from expanding, notably by stemming the return of foreign fighters or the movement of terrorist groups to other regions.