Malian Minister of Security and Civil Protection Salif Traore reiterated, Monday in Algiers, his country’s willingness to strengthen security partnership with Algeria, and to draw on its experience in the fight against terrorism.
“We have a common enemy, terrorism. Algeria has an extensive experience in this field. The main reason of my visit (…) is to examine means to further strengthen security cooperation,” said Traore following his discussions with Minister of Maghreb Affairs, African Union and Arab League Abdelkader Messahel.
“We seek to strengthen our security cooperation with Algeria as part of South-South partnership,” he added.
Traore said that he discussed with Messahel security situation and the implementation of the Peace and Reconciliation Agreement in Mali, resulting from Algiers process.
He also paid tribute to Algeria “for its continuous support to the Malian people as well as for the stability of their country.”
In this regard, the Malian minister recalled the success of the High Level Monitoring Committee’s meeting, held Friday in Bamako, under the chairmanship of Algeria.
“The meeting allowed us to reach decisions, which I hope would help us achieve our objectives rapidly,” he said.
Mali’s Peace and Reconciliation Agreement, signed in the first stage in May 2015 and in the second stage in June 2015, by all Malian parties in Bamako, was achieved after five rounds of inter-Malian dialogue, launched in July 2014 under the international mediation, with Algeria as the key mediator.
In reply to a question on the last meeting of G5 Sahel, during which Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita underlined the need to advance in the achievement of the “Sahel Defence” initiative, Traore said that this initiative aims at examining thoroughly the scourge of terrorism.
“For an effective fight against terrorism, we must first rely on ourselves,” he explained, adding that this “initiative is not exclusive, but it is to be added to many other actions.”
