U.S., Africans Vow to Fight Terrorism

DAKAR, Senegal -- Military chiefs of nine African countries pledged Wednesday to work with U.S. forces to prevent the spread of terrorism in the Sahara desert region.

Since the rise of al-Qaida, security experts have worried that the Sahara's wide open spaces and porous borders could serve as a haven for terrorist groups, much the same way Afghanistan once acted as a terrorist incubator.

"The nations represented here have a common goal of reducing the ability of violent extremists to harm or kill innocent civilians," Gen. William Ward, the deputy commander of U.S. forces in Europe, said at a conference in Senegal's capital.

The African participants _ Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal _ all border or include parts of the Sahara desert. As a group called the Trans-Sahara Partnership, they all receive advice and assistance from the United States.

The U.S. spends more than $80 million a year in counterterrorism measures in the countries, including providing military training, supplying arms and sharing intelligence, Ward said.

Key results of the partnership include the capture of Amari Saifi, a former Algerian special forces paratrooper known by his nom de guerre, Al Para. Considered the mastermind of a 2003 Sahara desert kidnapping of European tourists, Al Para was sentenced to life in prison in 2005 in Algeria.

Brig. Gen. Abdel Kader Gueye, the deputy chief of staff of Senegal's army, said the only known sanctuary for terrorists in Africa right now is the Sahara, especially the area bordering Mali, Mauritania and Algeria where the GSPC has been active.