Interior Minister Attends 38th Session of Arab Interior Ministerial Council
The Minister of Interior and Decentralization, Mr. Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug, participated, Thursday via videoconference, in the work of the 38th session of the Council of Arab Ministers of the Interior.
In a speech on the occasion, the Minister conveyed the greetings of the President of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, and his best wishes of success for this session, before thanking His Royal Highness the Emir Abdalla Ibn Saoud Ibn Nayef Ibn Abdelaziz al-Saoud, Minister of the Interior of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Honorary President of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers, and to express his thanks to the Secretary General of the Council.
The Minister also commended the pioneering role played by the Nayef University of Security Sciences, chaired by Dr Abd al-Majid Bin Abdalla al-Bounian for the efforts made to achieve the objectives and perspectives of the Council.
The Minister affirmed that our region is facing multiple security challenges, in particular terrorism, illegal immigration, drug trafficking, due to the geographical position of our country, located in the Sahelo-Saharan region, which is a privileged destination for various terrorist organizations and organized crime gangs.
He added that Mauritania has adopted a multidimensional security approach which aims, in its security dimension, to fight against extremism, terrorism, and organized crime, stressing that this approach has constituted a profound change in the security system in our country, through the restructuring of security apparatuses and their training, which made it possible to defeat terrorism and dry up its sources, making this approach a model to be followed in the region and throughout the world.
He indicated that the President of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, leads this security approach, of which he was the architect of the majority of its stages, at various levels of the pyramid of the military and security system, noting that he is currently working to fill the gaps, as President of the Republic and Supreme Chief of the Armed Forces.
The Minister recalled that the Arab world, like the rest of the countries of the world, is currently going through complex security conditions, in the context of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has impacted various aspects of the economic, social, and security life, adding that, despite the crisis caused by the pandemic, our security services were able to address the challenges imposed by the context of the pandemic.
He indicated that security apparatuses, in addition to their traditional role, ensured the application of preventive measures, which made it possible to emerge from the two waves of the disease with minimal damage.
The Minister of the Interior and Decentralization called for cooperation and the consolidation of coordination in the area of common security, in order to meet the major challenges facing the Arab States at the international and regional levels, welcoming in this regard the adoption of the 10th Arab Security Plan, which is a tool for skills development and capacity building of Arab cadres, with a view to unifying the strategic direction in security matters and focusing on proactive security and looking forward to the future.
The Minister finally welcomed the draft of the eighth Arab media plan for security awareness and crime prevention, as well as the seventh stage plan of the Arab Road Safety Strategy presented on the agenda of this conference, calling for their adoption.