Africa must not become breeding ground for extremists: Bouteflika

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika told a major meeting on global terrorism in Africa that the continent must act decisively to prevent it becoming a breeding ground for extremists. “Terrorism has already struck our continent. It can set up its networks here, take advantage of the illegal circulation of weapons from conflict zones, the length and porosity of the borders and the human misery and distress that are sadly still too common in Africa,” he said. “The danger that it represents for us is therefore not to be underestimated,” the Algerian leader told delegates in his opening speech. He said the key to countering global extremism was therefore prevention: “so that the continent does not become a breeding ground for terrorism and a base for terrorist groups which could then indiscriminately attack African countries and other regions of the world from our continent.” Full Story