British envoy in Algeria to discuss security cooperation

A top British security official met his Algerian counterpart here Monday to discuss stepped-up anti-terror copperation, the APS state news agency reported. General Robin Searby, Prime Minister David Cameron's adviser on security in northern Africa, huddled with Kamel Rezag Bara, his counterpart in the Algerian presidency, the agency said. Bara said the talks focused on a meeting of a bilateral contact group tackling terrorism and related security issues which is planned for late October in the Algerian capital. The two officials also reviewed the security situation in the Sahel region ahead of an international conference that will bring together Western countries and regional countries: Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a Saharan offshoot of the global extremist network, is active in the Sahel region -- an area nearly the size of Australia stretching from western Mauritania through Mali and Niger. The four nations most affected by AQIM operations -- Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Niger -- work closely together on security and military issues in efforts to crack down on AQIM's activities. Searby, who arrived late Sunday on a two-day visit, and Bara also touched on the conflict in Libya and its impact on the stability of the sub-region.