The US and Algeria pledged today to work together to battle terrorism, as US Secretary of State John Kerry paid his first visit to the north African nation.
"Algeria, which has paid a heavy toll to terrorism, will never bow in front of this scourge," Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra said at the opening of strategic talks between the two countries.
"Terrorism knows no boundaries, has no creed, no religion and targets all nations," he added.
But he called for more intelligence sharing from the United States in the fight against Islamist militancy, and greater coordination among regional law enforcement agencies as well as for border monitoring.
Jihadist violence has plagued the vast Sahel-Sahara region since the 2011 overthrow of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, prompting a French-led military intervention in Algeria's southern neighbour Mali in January 2013 after al-Qaeda-linked groups seized control of the country's north.
But militants have also struck in Niger, Tunisia and Algeria itself, where they overran a desert gas plant last year triggering a bloody four-day siege in which some 40 hostages were killed.
Lamamra said his country was committed to working with all its partners "to stand in the way of this peril, and to eradicate this scourge".
One of Algeria's major concerns was the situation in the Sahel, where "terrorism, human-trafficking, drug-trafficking and all kinds of criminal activities have woven their webs," he said.
This threatened "the stability and very existence of the peoples and states of the area."
Kerry, who arrived late yesterday amid tight security, said Washington wanted to partner with Algeria to build a more robust defence relationship and help secure and strengthen borders in the region.
He also vowed that the United States would work with Algeria to try to stem the unrest in the lawless Sahel region, which stretches across several north African nations.
"We are grateful, very grateful, for Algeria's efforts in Mali and Niger, which underscore Algeria's constructive role in regional stability not only in the east, but to the south."
Kerry said one of the ways to fight terrorism was to help create jobs and ensure stability in people's lives.
"Those who offer the violence that comes with terrorism, don't offer jobs, they don't offer education, they don't offer health care, they don't have a programme to pull a country together."
Such terror groups are in direct "confrontation with modernity," he warned.
