EU TO BOOST INTELLIGENCE SHARING WITH TURKEY AND ARAB STATES

Brussels, 30 Rabi’ul Awwal 1436/21 January 2015 (MINA) – EU foreign ministers have stressed the need to work with Arab nations and Turkey in particular to boost intelligence sharing to counter terror attacks, agencies reported.

Following talks in Brussels with the chief of the Arab League and various European ministers, EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said that, “probably for the first time there was real deep awareness of the need to work together.”

Ministers met in Brussels to seek a united response to the threat from militant Islamists following the January 7 attacks, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Wednesday.

“We are looking at specific projects to launch in the coming weeks with some specific countries to increase the level of cooperation on counter-terrorism, and I would name Turkey, Egypt, Yemen, Algeria and the Gulf countries,” she added.

AFP reported that Mogherini said the bloc would also post security attachés at its embassies in key Muslim nations to boost cooperation, as well as increasing its Arabic language capacity to try to counter “Islamist propaganda”.

She said there was a need to “share intelligence information, not only with the EU but also with other countries around us.”

The head of the Arab League, Nabil Al-Arabi, attended the EU foreign ministers’ meeting, in talks that pave the way for a special leaders’ summit on terrorism next month.

“Every country in the world is suffering from terrorism,” he said. “It is not just a military or security issue, it covers the intellectual, cultural, media and religious spheres and that is what we are trying to get.” (T/P002/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)