Abdel Majid Ibrahim Abdel Karim, head of Libya's intelligence service and president of the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services in Africa, or CISSA, called for stronger intelligence cooperation and coordination, as well as the exchange of information and expertise among African agencies, to address shared security threats and support stability in North Africa and across the continent. He was speaking during a regional workshop hosted by Algiers from 12 to 15 October 2026.
Algeria hosts security workshop for North Africa
The workshop is being held under the title “The implications of the spread and use of drugs in North Africa” and is chaired by the National Directorate for Security, Documentation and the Protection of Institutions of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
The participants include heads and representatives of security and intelligence services from Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Mauritania and the Sahrawi Republic, along with Botswana, Zimbabwe, Sudan, South Africa and Namibia, as well as representatives of the CISSA executive secretariat and specialised African security mechanisms.
Drugs threaten security through organised crime
In an address during the workshop, Abdel Majid Ibrahim Abdel Karim said the spread and use of drugs had become a multidimensional security threat, extending beyond criminal and health concerns to transnational organised crime, money laundering, arms smuggling, human trafficking and the financing of terrorist groups.
In a statement on the sidelines of the workshop, he described Algeria, which had long suffered from terrorism, as having, thanks to its people, become a “beacon” in resisting and combating it, and said it was a highly influential country in Africa. He added that Algeria was consistently pushing to combat these scourges and that its hosting of the regional workshop was evidence of this approach.
The Libyan official thanked Algeria for organising the workshop at what he described as a “very important timing”. He also thanked the Sahrawi Republic for assuming the presidency of CISSA's regional office for North Africa during the current year.
He said he was paying close attention to regional developments and tensions linked to terrorism, irregular migration, human trafficking, organised crime and other issues affecting the security of countries in the region.
Warning that drug networks are targeting young people
He said the meeting was discussing several phenomena, including drug trafficking and its widespread proliferation, warning that these substances were being used to target the peoples of the region, particularly young people. He described the activity as “systematic work” carried out as part of organised crime and under the sponsorship of terrorist networks targeting the security and stability of states, stressing that security and intelligence agencies were on alert.
He said these scourges were making conditions more complex amid geopolitical and geosecurity shifts that were turning the region into an area of tension, adding that their effects extended to the European continent, particularly neighbouring countries.
He stressed the need for a high level of vigilance, continuous communication and the exchange of expertise among countries affected to varying degrees, affirming that harm affecting one African country could spread to the rest of the continent.
