Algeria has initiated several actions in Africa over the past fifteen years as part of the fight against terrorism and the criminalization of ransom payment, said Tuesday in Nairobi Minister for Maghreb and African Affairs Abdelkader Messahel.
"Algeria was the initiating country of the African Union Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism, which was adopted by the AU heads of State at their 35th Summit, held in Algiers in 1999," Messahel told the press on the sidelines of the summit of AU Peace and Security Council, devoted to the reinforcement of counterterrorism cooperation.
Algeria was also the initiator of the additional Protocol to the Convention, adopted in 2004 by the AU heads of State to adapt it to the evolution of the fight against terrorism, he said.
Messahel underlined that among the major achievements of the AU was the creation, at Algeria's initiative, of the African Centre of the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT), which is based in Algiers.
The ACSRT is in charge of assessing the terrorist threat in Africa and promoting inter-African counterterrorism cooperation and also establishing database on terrorism, developing training programmes and conducting studies in the field.
Messahel explained that Algeria, with a view to strengthening the fight against terrorism, "has also addressed the root-causes of this scourge and the sources of terrorist financing."
"Algeria has always refused to pay ransoms to not help sustain terrorist groups," he added
"At the African level, we have asked at the AU Summit all the member states to prevent terrorists from benefiting directly or indirectly benefiting from ransom payments or from political concessions," he said.
Algeria also has made every effort at the UN Security Council for the criminalization of ransom payments, he added.