Tunisia urges boosting security cooperation with Algeria to face terror threats

Visiting Tunisian Prime Minister, Habib Essid, here on Monday hailed the exceptional level of security cooperation with Algeria, while urging the two North African neighboring countries to work more closely to face the mounting terrorist threats.

Essid arrived on Sunday to Algeria as part of a two-day visit. On Monday he co-chaired with his Algerian counterpart Abdelmalek Sellal the works of the 20th Algerian-Tunisian High Joint Committee.

"Algeria and Tunisia have reached an exceptional level of security cooperation and coordination in the face of the dangers, especially in border areas, but they are urged more than ever to multiply joint security actions to face mounting terror threats," Essid said in his remarks.

He further urged the two governments "to develop the border areas and ultimately improve the living conditions for the populations living there to preserve security and stability in the face of the dangers that threaten our countries."

Algeria and Tunisia boosted their security cooperation, including border security, in the aftermath of the terror attack that targeted Tunisian troops in an area close to the border with Algeria in 2013.

Since then the two nations have been holding recurrent security meetings to coordinate their counter-terrorism efforts.

Also, the Tunisian official suggested to adopt "better and harmonious tariff advantages between the two countries, in addition to enlarge the list of products that benefit from advantages of the preferential trade agreement, enforced in March 2014.

He said that the level of trade exchange between the two neighboring nations is still beyond existing potentials and expectations. Endit