Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Officials said Algeria and Tunisia were engaged in consultations on border and other security cooperation.

The officials said cooperation must be enhanced to stop the flow of Al Qaida-aligned fighters throughout North Africa.

“There is a need to advance coordination at the security level in order to achieve concrete results,” Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra said.

The Algerian foreign minister attended a ministerial security conference in Tunis, which ended on July 14. The parley focused on efforts to end chaos in Libya, deemed a leading source of instability in North Africa.

Lamamra reported meeting Tunisian Prime Minister Medhi Jomaa at the ministerial conference. He said the session was “satisfactory” and that the two countries would establish a coordination panel.

Officials said Algeria and Tunisia would focus on border security cooperation. They cited the flow of Al Qaida fighters through Algeria into Tunisia over the last year.

“The group will be tasked with following up security and military issues including border control, help identify a well-defined vision about the recovery of heavy weapons according to a gradual method aimed to efficiently deal with this issue that threatens the security and stability of Libya and neighboring countries,” Tunisia’s official TAP news agency said.

  Algeria, Medhi Jomaa, Ramtane Lamamra, Tunisia close ranks against growing threat from Libyan chaos