Iraq, Algeria mull deals on combating terrorism

Iraq and Algeria are preparing to sign an agreement on combating terrorism and organised crime, a senior Iraqi official said yesterday in Algiers.

Deputy Minister of Interior for Intelligence and Investigations, General Maher Najm Abdul-Hussein Al-Taie made the announcement after a meeting with Algerian Interior Minister Noureddine Bedoui, the official APS news agency reported.

Al-Taie stressed that his visit to Algeria comes within “the framework of negotiations to prepare a memorandum of understanding between Algeria and Iraq on combating terrorism, organised crime and methods used by terrorist groups, as well as exchanging experiences in this field”.

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The official did not provide further details on the contents of the agreement, pointing out that the Algerian interior minister will visit Iraq to sign it. No date was given for the visit.

The Iraqi official praised the Algerian national reconciliation scheme approved by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and described it as “a wonderful example in the Arab region”.

He explained that “the Iraqi government has quoted this national reconciliation and adopted the same approach to establish security and enforce law in all areas in Iraq.”

On 29 September 2005, Bouteflika setup a referendum on a reconciliation agreement which guaranteed conditional amnesty for militants in the mountains in return for leaving armed action, which contributed to the decline of violence in the country. Thousands surrendered as a result.