Security agreement between Tunisia and Algeria

A new security agreement is scheduled to be signed between Algeria and Tunisia next week in the attendance of Algerian Prime Minister Abdel Malek Salal and his Tunisian counterpart Yussef Al Shahed. The agreement, due to be concluded in Tunis, aims to bridge the gap of difference among the Libyan factions.

Minister of Maghreb Affairs, African Union and Arab League Abdelkader Messahel said Saturday that Algeria and Tunisia will ink next week an agreement on security cooperation.

The agreement will be signed as part of the 21st grand joint commission meeting, to be held March 9 in Tunis.

It "will boost our consultations for the settlement of crises in the region, including Libya," Messahel said at the opening of the 19th Algerian-Tunisian monitoring committee.

By virtue of the agreement, "further efforts will be made to achieve a rapprochement among the different Libyan parties, leading to a national reconciliation through an all-inclusive inter-Libyan dialogue, without any foreign interference," the Algerian official said."  

Such a political solution is "based on the settlement process sponsored by the United Nations." For his part, Tunisia's Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui said that the agreement that will be signed next week in Tunis would strengthen security and military cooperation between the two countries.

The 19th session of the Algerian-Tunisian Monitoring Committee, taking place in Algiers on 4 and 5 March, ahead of the 21st session of the Algerian-Tunisian High Joint commission, to be held in Tunis on 9 March.

On his hand, Tunisian Minister of Foreign Affairs Khamis Al Jehenawi said that the agreement will reflect the security and military cooperation between the two countries, saying that they monitored the moves of terrorist elements during the recent period near the borders. He stressed that the authorities in the two countries exert their efforts to prevent their attempts to enter any of the two countries.