The President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, said Tuesday that Algeria, banking on its “bitter and successful experience,” continued its efforts to support its neighbors and African countries in their fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
On the occasion of the High-Level debate of the Security Council on Countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism conducive to terrorism by strengthening cooperation between the UN and regional organizations and mechanisms, President Tebboune delivered, in his capacity as Coordinator of the African Union (AU) on Prevention and Combating of Terrorism and Violent Extremism. This speech was distributed as an official document of the Security Council to serve as a reference during the discussions.
After recalling that “Algeria managed to confront and defeat terrorism in the 1990s in the almost total absence of material or moral support expected from the international community,” the President of the Republic said that Algeria “continues today in the same spirit its efforts to support its sister countries in its immediate vicinity and at the continental level in their fight against terrorism and violent extremism.”
President Tebboune recalled the initiative presented by Algeria to give new impetus to efforts to fight terrorism in the Sahel-Saharan region, which was approved in October 2022 by the member states of the Joint Operational Staff Committee (JOSC) comprising Algeria, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger.
At the continental level, President Tebboune said that under its mandate as AU Coordinator on the prevention and combating terrorism and violent extremism, Algeria continues its efforts to contribute to strengthening joint African action in the fight against this scourge.
In this regard, he referred to the initiatives of Algeria through the development of an AU new action plan in the field of counter-terrorism, the activation of the African Fund for Combating Terrorism, the establishment of an African list of individuals, groups, and entities involved in terrorist acts, including foreign terrorist fighters, as well as the implementation of the African arrest warrant.
“Algeria continues to support African agencies and mechanisms specializing in this area, including the African Centre for Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT) and the AU Police Cooperation Mechanism (AFRIPOL), whose headquarters are located in Algeria, as well as the Committee of African Security and Intelligence Services (CISSA), located in Addis Ababa,” said the source.
He referred to “a decline in the interest of the international community in the growing threats imposed by the scourge of terrorism and violent extremism to the African states and peoples in a global context marked by unrest and polarization,” said Tebboune, stressing that “Africa is facing a global threat that recognizes no borders and is not related to any religion, race or nationality.”
In this regard, he said that “this threat should in no way be equated with the legitimate struggle of peoples under occupation to regain their legitimate rights, first and foremost their inalienable and imprescriptible right to self-determination and independence enshrined in international law.”
Addressing the participants, President Tebboune emphasized the terrorist threat facing Africa in recent years, stressing that “the African continent has become, over the past decade, more affected than any other region of the world by this scourge, given the extension of its geographical extent to regions that we considered safe from the scourge of terrorism.”
“The growing severity of this scourge in many African regions, especially in the Sahel-Saharan space, has become the main threat to the security and stability of African countries that inhibits their efforts to achieve economic development and the goals of the AU Agenda 2063.
Source APS