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US, Algeria Hold Meetings on Anti-Money Laundering

The Algerian-American military dialogue round held in December 2023. (Algerian Ministry of Defense)
The Algerian-American military dialogue round held in December 2023. (Algerian Ministry of Defense)
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US, Algeria Hold Meetings on Anti-Money Laundering

The Algerian-American military dialogue round held in December 2023. (Algerian Ministry of Defense)
The Algerian-American military dialogue round held in December 2023. (Algerian Ministry of Defense)

US and Algerian officials concluded high-level meetings in the capital city of Algeria on Thursday after discussing trends in financial crimes and money laundering activities.

The collaboration between Algeria and Washington underscores joint efforts in detecting the illicit flow of funds and countering extremist activities across online platforms and social media channels.

More than 25 officials representing the Algerian Ministry of Justice and five officials from the US Department of Justice held a five-day workshop from February 11 to 15 on trends in financial crimes and countervailing investigative techniques, the US Embassy in Algeria said on its website.

"The event served to strengthen the security partnership between the US and Algeria through dialogue, exchange of expertise, and bilateral cooperation. Both parties explored multifaceted approaches to preventing terrorist financing and shared techniques to detect money laundering," the statement read.

Secretary General Mohamed Regaz of the Algerian Ministry of Justice and US Ambassador to Algeria Elizabeth Moore Aubin delivered remarks on the final day of the workshop, highlighting the joint US-Algeria commitment to combating criminal organizations and illicit financing.

“Our two countries have made great progress in the fight against terrorist financing. As threats have become more complex, more interconnected, and more technically advanced, our cooperation and mutual legal assistance becomes ever more important,” Ambassador Aubin stated.

In recent years, bilateral collaboration to combat money laundering and disrupt the financial networks fueling terrorism, particularly in the Sahel region, has intensified. The FBI engaged in discussions with investigators from various Algerian law enforcement agencies, including the National Gendarmerie, the National Police, and Customs, as well as representatives from entities such as the Financial Inquiry Processing Cell (under the Ministry of Finance) and government and private banks.

The focus of these meetings was to equip Algerian investigators with the latest strategies to confront militant groups' fundraising activities, enhance their operational capabilities, and improve their ability to trace public funds tainted by corruption and bribery that have been illicitly transferred abroad.

Algeria's legislative framework for countering terrorist financing has seen significant revisions since the enactment of its initial law in 2005. There exists a robust coordination mechanism with European counterparts to monitor the activities of terrorist organizations, particularly their potential ties to clandestine migration networks originating from Sahel nations south of the Sahara toward Southern Europe via North African territories.

Algerian government sources have indicated that the discussions between officials from the Ministry of Justice are part of the broader "comprehensive strategic dialogue" between Algeria and the US. While previous bilateral cooperation primarily centered on American energy investments in the Algerian Sahara's oil and gas sector, the emergence of terrorist groups in the region, notably since 2007 with the inception of "Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb," prompted both governments to bolster security and military collaboration.

The US and Algeria conducted a Joint Military Dialogue in Washington from December 4 to 6 in the framework of the continued bilateral defense cooperation. Algerian Major General Mounir Zahi and Acting US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs Jennifer Zakriski led the two countries’ delegations.

The Joint Military Dialogue focused on advancing a draft Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation between Algeria and the United States in preparation for a planned signing in early 2024.

“We are very open to hearing from Algeria about what Algeria needs for its national defense... If US industry could be part of the answer to ensure Algeria has what it needs to defend itself, of course, we want to be part of that conversation,” US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for North African Affairs Joshua Harris said when he visited Algeria last year.

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Arab World

Syria’s National Dialogue Conference Is in Flux Amid Pressure for Political Transition 

03 January 2025, Syria, Damascus: Syrian leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa stands during a meeting at the presidential palace in Damascus. (dpa)
03 January 2025, Syria, Damascus: Syrian leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa stands during a meeting at the presidential palace in Damascus. (dpa)
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Syria’s National Dialogue Conference Is in Flux Amid Pressure for Political Transition 

03 January 2025, Syria, Damascus: Syrian leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa stands during a meeting at the presidential palace in Damascus. (dpa)
03 January 2025, Syria, Damascus: Syrian leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa stands during a meeting at the presidential palace in Damascus. (dpa)

An official with the committee preparing a national dialogue conference in Syria to help chart the country's future said Friday that it has not been decided whether the conference will take place before or after a new government is formed.

The date of the conference has not been set and the timing "is up for discussion by the citizens," Hassan al-Daghim, spokesperson for the committee, told The Associated Press in an interview in Damascus Friday.

"If the transitional government is formed before the national dialogue conference, this is normal," he said. On the other hand, he said, "the caretaker government may be extended until the end of the national dialogue."

The conference will focus on drafting a constitution, the economy, transitional justice, institutional reform and how the authorities deal with Syrians, al-Daghim said. The outcome of the national dialogue will be non-binding recommendations to the country’s new leaders.

"However, these recommendations are not only in the sense of advice and formalities," al-Daghim said. "They are recommendations that the President of the republic is waiting for in order to build on them."

After former President Bashir Assad was toppled in a lightning opposition offensive in December, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the main former opposition group now in control of Syria, set up an interim administration comprising mainly of members of its "salvation government" that had ruled in northwestern Syria.

They said at the time that a new government would be formed through an inclusive process by March. In January, former HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa was named Syria’s interim president after a meeting of most of the country’s former opposition factions. The groups agreed to dissolve the country's constitution, the former national army, security service and official political parties.

The armed groups present at the meetings also agreed to dissolve themselves and for their members to be absorbed into the new national army and security forces. Notably absent was the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which holds sway in northeastern Syria.

There has been international pressure for al-Sharaa to follow through on promises of an inclusive political transition. UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said this week that formation of a "new inclusive government" by March 1 could help determine whether Western sanctions are lifted as the country rebuilds.

Al-Daghim said the decisions taken in the meeting of former opposition factions in January dealt with "security issues that concern the life of every citizen" and "these sensitive issues could not be postponed" to wait for an inclusive process.

In recent weeks, the preparatory committee has been holding meetings in different parts of Syria to get input ahead of the main conference. Al-Daghim said that in those meetings, the committee had heard a broad consensus on the need for "transitional justice and unity of the country."

"There was a great rejection of the issue of quotas, cantons, federalization or anything like this," he said.

But he said there was "disagreement on the order of priorities." In the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartous, for instance, many were concerned about the low salaries paid to government workers, while in Idlib and suburbs of Damascus that saw vast destruction during nearly 14 years of civil war, reconstruction was the priority.

The number of participants to be invited to the national conference has not yet been determined and may range from 400 to 1,000, al-Daghim said, and could include religious leaders, academics, artists, politicians and members of civil society, including some of the millions of Syrians displaced outside the country.

The committee has said that the dialogue would include members of all of Syria's communities, but that people affiliated with Assad's government and armed groups that refuse to dissolve and join the national army -- chief among them the SDF -- would not be invited.

Al-Daghim said Syria's Kurds would be part of the conference even if the SDF is not.

"The Kurds are a component of the people and founders of the Syrian state," he said. "They are Syrians wherever they are."