ALGIERS, Algeria, April 21 (UPI) -- Four Saharan states plan to open a joint anti-terror center in Algeria to thwart the regional threat from al-Qaida.
The Joint Military Staff Committee of Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger will join forces at a command headquarters in Tamanrasset, BBC News reports.
The states aim to boost cooperation to counter the growing threat from al-Qaida.
The West fears that al-Qaida militants establish the Saharan desert as a retreat for their operations.
Two Italians kidnapped by al-Qaida in Mauritania were released in Mali earlier this week after lengthy negotiations.
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, the terror network's North African branch based in Algeria, has threatened to launch attacks on the World Cup soccer tournament,which begins in June in South Africa.
Experts also say there is a growing shift of veteran al-Qaida fighters and field commanders from the Afghanistan-Pakistan theater to Yemen and Somalia to bolster jihadist forces there and open a new front against the West.
