Interior Minister Participates in High-Level Conference on ‘Enhancing International Counterterrorism Co-operation’ in Kuwait

The Minister of Interior, Promotion of Decentralization and Local Development Mohamed Ahmed Ould Mohamed Lemin participated in the high-level conference on ‘Strengthening International Cooperation in Countering Terrorism and Building Flexible Border Security Mechanisms – Kuwait Phase of the Dushanbe Process’, which kicked off on Monday in Kuwait, under the patronage of His Highness Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, and United Nations Secretary General Vladimir Voronkov of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office.

In a speech delivered during the conference, the Minister of Interior, Decentralization and Local Development expressed his sincere thanks to the governments of the State of Kuwait and the Republic of Tajikistan and the United Nations Office for Counter-Terrorism for organizing this important conference and for inviting Mauritania to it. He also expressed his gratitude to the State of Kuwait, the Emir, the government and the people for the special attention it pays to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

He pointed out that the international situation is characterized by deep geopolitical conflicts that have taken on unconventional dimensions, represented by hybrid warfare embodied in multidimensional cyber-attacks, noting that this conflict has expanded to include the Sahel-Saharan region, of which Mauritania is a part, which has been for decades one of the most dangerous hotbeds of crises that encapsulate most aspects of global threats: governance crisis, fragility, armed conflicts, expansion of terrorism and organized crime, resulting in the flow of migrants and refugees and the destruction of economic structures.

In light of this alarming picture, Mauritania has been an exception in the region by adopting a multidimensional approach: Mauritania has developed a development plan to combat poverty and fragility and integrate youth through income-generating activities and sponsoring low-income families.

Educational curricula have been purged of violent rhetoric, and intellectual dialogues have been held with groups of youth who adopted extremist ideology to convince them to abandon the extremist tendencies that led them to join terrorist organizations, he said, noting that these dialogues led them to review many of their misconceptions, and as a result, those in pre-trial detention were released and integrated into active life, which contributed greatly to drying up the sources of terrorism.

He pointed out that Mauritania is hosting hundreds of thousands of displaced and displaced Malians and taking care of them in full harmony with their host citizens, stressing that a plan has been developed to control the borders and manage migration through a distinctive biometric system, and our armed and security forces have been prepared and qualified to face the atypical warfare adopted by terrorist groups through preventive measures that have enabled us to anticipate threats and fortify the country, where since 2011 – thankfully – no terrorist operation has been recorded against our country.

Mauritania has intensified its efforts to strengthen cooperation with regional and international partners through several regional and continental bodies, enabling the exchange of expertise and information and the unification of efforts. Mauritania has also assessed and updated its approach in order to remain able to maintain the atmosphere of security and stability it enjoys.

The two-day conference will be attended by 450 participants, including 33 ministers from Member States, in addition to representatives of UN specialized agencies and 23 international and regional organizations.

The conference is a pivotal platform for enhancing regional and international cooperation on border security in the context of combating terrorism and its financing. It also provides an opportunity to exchange experiences and visions in combating terrorism, discuss lessons learned from common challenges, and discuss ways to confront the threats arising from terrorism and its consequencesand ways to enhance regional and international cooperation in this context.