Fight poverty to curb terror

2003-12-06 12:49

Tunisia - The global war on terrorism must be backed up by a fight against poverty in North Africa, where crowded slums and grim prospects for employment breed Islamic extremism, leaders in the region said.

Their remarks came at the opening on Friday of an informal, two-day summit in Tunisia that brought leaders from five southern European countries together with five of their counterparts from across the Mediterranean.

North African leaders are hoping for more business ties with Europe to improve their economies, while leaders from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Malta are urging better co-operation on illegal immigration and terrorism.

North African heads of state agreed that improving security will help, but also cited the hopelessness that makes young men vulnerable to extremism.

"We should not forget the need to control the underlying causes off terrorism," Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said, citing poverty and underdevelopment in his country, where 40% of the population is under 20 years old.

Algeria's Islamic militants have been trying to topple the government for 12 years, often by setting bombs or slitting throats.

About 120 000 people have died. The movement spread tentacles abroad, with militants bombing French subways in 1995. Since September 11, 2001, Algerian suspects have been arrested in Europe and the United States for plotting attacks.

Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, host of the summit in this smoggy seaside city, also said the war on terror "must not be confined to security measures, but rather based on a coherent approach tackling their root problems".

His nation, prosperous by North African standards, has had an iron-fisted crackdown against fundamentalism for decades. But it hasn't been immune to terror: A truck bomb blast at a synagogue on the balmy resort island of Djerba last year killed 21 people, mostly German tourists.

Morocco had been largely spared Islamic violence until May, when suicide bombers strapped explosives on their backs and killed 33 people in Casablanca, its largest city and economic engine.

Both Europe and the United States are wooing North Africa for co-operation against terrorism. US Secretary of State Colin Powell swung through the region this week, pushing for democratic change.

The African countries at the "5 plus 5" summit, as it is called, are Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania and Libya. Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi made an energetic debut, blowing kisses and waving to a cheering crowd as he strolled down a Tunis street.

The summit was a rare chance for leaders from North Africa to meet for friendly talks. Regional co-operation has been thwarted for decades by a dispute over Western Sahara, a territory on Africa's Atlantic Coast. Morocco claims the territory as its own.

- AP