Anti-terrorism, top agenda for upcoming Arab League summit

The Arab League would be meeting in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott later this month. One key area that would top the agenda of the 27th summit would be the fight against terrorism.

According to Assistant Secretary of the group, Ahmed Benhali, the fight against terrorism tops the agenda of the two-day summit scheduled for 26- 27 July.

“The issue of terrorism and its impacts on the Arab national security will be at the centre of Nouakchott summit works,” he said on Friday in an interview with Mauritanian radio, adding that different approaches to countering terrorism will be discussed.

He further disclosed that a delegation of the Arab League will visit Mauritania in mid July to assess preparations for this important meeting.

Benhali believes that the holding in Nouakchott of the Arab summit will mark a breakthrough for the Mauritanian diplomacy on the Arab-African and international levels.

The Arab League

The Arab League was formed in Cairo by six Arab countries in 1945, today, it comprises 22 Arab countries spanning North Africa, the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.

Six of the seven previous Secretary Generals have been Egyptians and the League’s headquarters remains in Cairo – where it was founded.

The African countries belonging to the group include Egypt, Tunisia, Somalia, Morocco, Sudan, Mauritania, Djibouti, Libya and Algeria with Eritrea serving as an observer state.