Wizdom
11-02-06, 16:59
By Will Dunham
TUNIS (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Saturday the United States wanted to strengthen military ties with Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco and played down the threat posed by al Qaeda in the countries.
"We are continuing to participate with each one of these three countries in one way or another on a military to military relationship. And it's something that we value and want to strengthen," Rumsfeld, beginning a three-day visit to North Africa, told reporters traveling with him.
Rumsfeld said that after visiting Tunisia he would travel to Algeria and Morocco. The United States has long-standing military ties with Tunisia and Morocco and recently began such relations with Algeria.
Rumsfeld said the three nations had been "constructive partners" in the campaign against global terrorism and were not the type that would be fertile for groups like al Qaeda to put down roots.
"There are certainly places in the world that are attractive for terrorists and terrorist networks. They tend not to be countries like these three. They tend to be areas that have large ungoverned spaces where the governments attitudinally are more tolerant toward extremism. And that would not be the case in any one of these three nations," he said.
Rumsfeld said he would discuss counter-terrorism with the countries among other topics.
"Each country has in its way been providing moderate leadership and been constructive in the problems of the world and the struggle against violent extremism," he said.
FIRST VISIT
Rumsfeld's visit to North Africa came after a NATO defense ministerial meeting in Sicily. It marked Rumsfeld's first visit to the Maghreb region, whose governments are solid supporters of the U.S. anti-terrorism campaign.
Tunisia, a nation of 10 million people sandwiched between Algeria and Libya on the Mediterranean Sea, won independence from France in 1956 and has taken a moderate stance in foreign relations while repressing Islamic fundamentalism.
Security sources and analysts in the region said Tunisia, as well as Morocco and Tunisia, are concerned about efforts by the fundamentalist Islamic guerrilla group al Qaeda to build support in the region for its campaign against the United States and other Western countries. Continued ...
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
TUNIS (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Saturday the United States wanted to strengthen military ties with Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco and played down the threat posed by al Qaeda in the countries.
"We are continuing to participate with each one of these three countries in one way or another on a military to military relationship. And it's something that we value and want to strengthen," Rumsfeld, beginning a three-day visit to North Africa, told reporters traveling with him.
Rumsfeld said that after visiting Tunisia he would travel to Algeria and Morocco. The United States has long-standing military ties with Tunisia and Morocco and recently began such relations with Algeria.
Rumsfeld said the three nations had been "constructive partners" in the campaign against global terrorism and were not the type that would be fertile for groups like al Qaeda to put down roots.
"There are certainly places in the world that are attractive for terrorists and terrorist networks. They tend not to be countries like these three. They tend to be areas that have large ungoverned spaces where the governments attitudinally are more tolerant toward extremism. And that would not be the case in any one of these three nations," he said.
Rumsfeld said he would discuss counter-terrorism with the countries among other topics.
"Each country has in its way been providing moderate leadership and been constructive in the problems of the world and the struggle against violent extremism," he said.
FIRST VISIT
Rumsfeld's visit to North Africa came after a NATO defense ministerial meeting in Sicily. It marked Rumsfeld's first visit to the Maghreb region, whose governments are solid supporters of the U.S. anti-terrorism campaign.
Tunisia, a nation of 10 million people sandwiched between Algeria and Libya on the Mediterranean Sea, won independence from France in 1956 and has taken a moderate stance in foreign relations while repressing Islamic fundamentalism.
Security sources and analysts in the region said Tunisia, as well as Morocco and Tunisia, are concerned about efforts by the fundamentalist Islamic guerrilla group al Qaeda to build support in the region for its campaign against the United States and other Western countries. Continued ...
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.