Pentagon chief Mark Esper is traveling to the Maghreb this week to reaffirm the United States' commitment to the region and strengthen cooperation with Algeria, where he will be the first American defense minister to visit for nearly 15 years.
Mark Esper, whose first trip to the African continent is on Wednesday, heads to Tunisia for bilateral talks with President Kais Saied and Tunisian Defense Minister Ibrahim Bartagi, before a speech at the American military cemetery in Carthage, where American soldiers who fell in North Africa during World War II are buried.
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The objective is to strengthen ties with this
"major"
ally
in the region and to discuss the threats that extremist organizations such as the Islamic State (IS) or al-Qaeda group represent for the country as well as
"regional instability. exacerbated by the pernicious activities of China and Russia on the
African
continent, ”
said a senior US military official.
Mark Esper is then expected Thursday in Algiers for talks with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who combines the functions of Chief of the Armed Forces and Minister of Defense.
Mark Esper intends
"to deepen cooperation with Algeria on key regional security issues, such as the threat posed by extremist groups
,
"
said the same source.
US military officials frequently travel to Tunisia and Morocco, where defense cooperation with the United States is well established, but Mark Esper will be the first US defense minister to visit Algeria from Donald Rumsfeld in February 2006. The American minister will end his tour in Rabat on Friday, to
"strengthen the already close relations"
in the field of security with Morocco, which each year hosts the African Lion military exercise under the leadership of the American military command for Africa (Africom ).
The exercise was canceled this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The senior military official did not say whether Mr. Esper would be received by King Mohammed VI.