- Interior Ministers in the Western Mediterranean region have been pressured by the urgent need to jointly combat "an alarming terrorism situation" in the whole of North Africa.
It was against this background that the ministers converged on the Mauritanian capital Nouachott to brainstorm on ways and means of containing the increasing pace of terrorism attacks in the region. This has turned the entire North Africa into a terror zone, thus chasing tourists and investors from visiting.
The region has become home to many terror groups including Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which soon transformed itself into the al-Qaeda branch in the Maghreb. Unlike the Salafist group that limited operations in Algeria, al-Qaeda has been unleashing worst attacks in the whole region.
Within a short time, al-Qaeda has spread its tentacles from the Algerian desert to northern Mali and now into the Mauritania, Ahmed Ghadhi, Secretary General of Mauritania's Foreign Ministry said.
He said the fight against terrorism has been difficult and challenging because terror groups are in the habit of sneaking across borders and launch attacks before returning to their hideouts in the deserts and mountains.
Apart from al-Qaeda Maghreb, two other large terror groups are believed to have been operating in Mali, Mauritania and Niger.
Last December, four French were killed in a terror attack in Aleg, southerwestern Mauritania had raised international security concerns, resulting to the cancellation of the popular annual Dakar rally.
Also in attendance in the Nouakchott meeting is the French Interior Minister, Michele Alliot-Marie who had confirmed Libyan leader's concern about "the slow spread of terrorism in southern parts of North Africa."
Both Muammar al-Qaddafi and Alliot-Marie believed that terrorism recruiters in the Sahel are bent on using Koranon people majority of who are not conversant with Arabi and Islam.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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