He said there was a risk of proliferation of weaponry after the battles in Libya in which rebels have toppled long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
"I agree that there is a threat of the proliferation of the weapons from Libya and we are greatly concerned -- all the nations are very concerned -- about small weapons, rifles and weapons similar to that, but also explosives and shoulder-fired air defence systems," General Carter Ham, the head of the Africa command, Africom, told a press conference on Algiers.
Ham was taking part in a conference organized by Algeria in the name of four countries held to be in the front line of terrorist activity which might be increased by arms trafficking: Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.
All these large but mainly poor countries are prey to attacks by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, a loose terrorist movement that emerged in 2007 from Algeria's Islamic extremist Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat. Al-Qaida has battled the military in the Sahel nations, taken Western hostages and is held to be engaged in arms trafficking.
"The US and most other nations have been very clear that the control of weapons is the entire responsibility of the NTC," Libya's ruling National Transitional Council, he said.
"All of the nations of the sub region and indeed the international community are seeking ways to help the NTC control those weapons," he added.
"As with all matters, regional security therefore requires the best efforts not only of the countries of the region but of the international community as well to control this problem.".
The Algiers conference was expected to end later Thursday on a note of warning about the new risks presented across the region by the Libyan conflict, on the terrorist front and in contraband.
The return of mercenaries, including thousands of Tuareg fighters who have in the past rebelled against the regimes in Mali and Niger and traditionally supported Gaddafi, is further cause for concern.
No comments:
Post a Comment