Security Cooperation, a Priority Between Morocco and Algeria Despite Political Conflicts

Marrakech- Despite several political contretemps, Moroccan and Algerian intelligence services have continued to meet monthly since September 2014, alternating between Rabat and Algiers, to promote the exchange of information regarding terrorist threats.

The General Directorate for Research and Moroccan Documentation and The Algerian Department of Intelligence and Security (DRS) decided last year to increase their cooperative efforts to address attempts by the organization of the Islamic State to establish itself in the Maghreb, as well as to deal with the alarming situation in Libya, according to the Algerian El Watan.

This ongoing security cooperation between the two countries has never lapsed despite tensions between Algiers and Rabat, as it has achieved tangible results, including the arrest of an Algerian citizen who had become a member of the IS state in the Moroccan city of Oujda in the east.

According to the same source, their joint efforts managed to dismantle several terrorist recruitment cells for Syria, Iraq, Libya and northern Mali.

Another hot topic that has been the subject of many discussions between the two countries since last summer is the control of the long border between the two countries that stretches over 1,500 km.

Morocco has shown great interest in cooperating with Algeria in terms of fighting terrorism, according to the Algerian website. Algeria, in its turn, depends, to great extent, on Morocco for deepening the investigation of financing and recruitment networks of terrorists in Europe.