ALGERIAN MFA WELCOMES LIBYA IN TSCTP

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 000037 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2022 TAGS: PTER PREL AG LY SUBJECT: ALGERIAN MFA WELCOMES LIBYA IN TSCTP REF: 07 STATE 167865 Classified By: Ambassador Robert S. Ford. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) MFA Secretary General (number two) Bouguerra and MFA Director General (A/S equivalent) for Africa Chergui told Ambassador on January 13 that Algeria would not object to the U.S. including Libyan officials in future TSCTP programming. He opined that Algeria thought integrating Libya more and more into regional CT efforts would be helpful. He assured the Ambassador that the GoA would not object in any way. Chergui (with his boss standing there) agreed that including Libya would be useful. Bouguerra said he was pleased the U.S. was asking countries in advance, and he wondered what the the reaction of Libya's neighbors would be. ¶2. (C) Comment: We note that Algeria did military exercises with Libya in late 2007 and its military chief of staff paid an official visit to Libya during those exercises. That said, Algeria and Libya do not always have a smooth relationship, and in particular the Algerian MFA is suspicious of Libyan intent with regard to Tuaregs in countries like Niger. In addition, the Algerians have told us repeatedly that they prefer bilateral mil/mil activities with us and others. They are less keen about multinational activities under rubrics such as TSCTP. Thus, they do not object to including Libya but neither does Algeria seek a particularly large role for itself in the program either. FORD