Algeria calls for forming Afripol to maintain Africa's security

Algeria's police chief said on Sunday that the establishment of an African police cooperation mechanism (Afripol) is a necessary step for the security of the continent against intrusive threats to peace and security.

"Afripol will constitute an essential instrument for international cooperation, including the collective response against the new intrusive threats to peace and security our continent is facing," Algeria's Director General of National Security Major General Abdelghani Hamel told a meeting of the African police chiefs.

The meeting was aimed at endorsing legal texts for the establishment of Afripol.

Hamel said the Afripol mechanism will provide a more effective fight against transnational organized crime, terrorism and trafficking of arms and drugs.

It will also help promote regional security cooperation and exchange of views among security chiefs on threats and means to strengthen police capabilities.

Afripol was first recommended during the 22th African Conference of Interpol in September 2013 in Algiers. It was endorsed by the General Assembly of Interpol a month later. Endit