North Africa force instead of Africom

Defense Ministers of Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and the Polisario front Tuesday agreed on establishing North African peace keeping forces with 12,000 soldiers.

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• Algeria will be in charge of training the forces on its land as the five countries are convinced in its ten-year-experience in the fight against terrorism, said Al Jazzeera’s correspondent in Libya.
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• In a meeting in Tripoli, Libya, the president of peace and security delegation at the African Union asserted the commitment of North African countries “to play a leading role in supporting African contemporary issues.”
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• Observers believe the decision to create North African peace keeping forces is an implicit reject of the American initiative to set up a US base in Africa known for Africom.