Committee of Chiefs of Staff of NARC Member States held its 11th meeting in Algeria on Saturday, May 6, 2023, with the participation of Chiefs of Staff of Member States or their representatives.
The meeting opened with a welcoming speech by Lt. Gen. Said Chanegriha, Chief of Staff of the People’s National Army of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria.
He stressed that these meetings will undoubtedly give a strong impetus to NARC in terms of operational readiness and enhancing the existing level of coordination among member states, to confront threats to security and safety of the region.
He also pointed out that convening of this meeting at the level of chiefs of staff of the armies for the first time, translates the desire and will of NARC member states to enhance means of cooperation and synergize joint efforts, in order to embody their commitments towards the African continent and the establishment of peace and security in the North African region, which represent the basis for social and economic development. Well-being for the region in particular and for the continent in general.
He also praised the efforts made by NARC Executive Secretariat and Planning Element, praising the tireless work of the experts of Member States, through their various meetings throughout the year, to embody strong will to advance this regional mechanism.
In his speech, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Ali Al-Haddad, Chief of General Staff of the Libyan Army, welcomed Chiefs of Staff of armies of NARC member states, expressing his overwhelming happiness at meeting his brothers on the land of beloved Algeria in the first meeting to be held at this level since NARC establishment.
He also extended his thanks and appreciation to the people and leadership of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria for the warm reception and generous hospitality, congratulating Chief of Staff of Algeria’s People’s National Army, for assuming NARC presidency, wishing him all success in this task, expressing confidence in the capabilities of brotherly Algeria in moving forward with this regional mechanism.
He stressed the keen interest of the State of Libya to overcome all difficulties facing the work of the Executive Secretariat and the Planning Element, and its commitment to implement its obligations spelled out in the Memorandum of Understanding establishing NARC, as well as the hosting agreement of NARC headquarters in Tripoli.
He also lauded the efforts made by the Executive Secretariat, the Planning Element, and all their staff, and everyone who contributed to the preparation of these meetings.
At the outset of his speech, Staff Maj. Gen. Essam Abdel Halim El-Gamal, representative of the Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces, expressed his thanks and gratitude to sisterly Republic of Algeria for hosting these events and for the interest, warm reception and overwhelming generosity.
He also thanked and appreciated the delegations’ experts and the Planning Element for their efforts during their 14th meeting, which will contribute to the conduct of the work of the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Council of Ministers of Defense.
He also took this opportunity to affirm the position of the Arab Republic of Egypt in support of NARC, and its keen interest to move forward with gradual operational for all its components with the aim of reaching full operationalization as soon as possible. He stressed that what NARC possesses of military, police and civil capabilities qualifies it to play its natural and expected role to achieve peace and security in Africa, within the framework of its support for the African Standby Force.
In this context, he renewed the continuation of the call for the engagement of sisterly Tunisia and the accession of sisterly Mauritania, to NARC along with their brothers from member states, calling on them to take all measures to be able to contribute and participate permanently for the advancement of our region at the level of the African continent.
Maj. Gen. Mohamed El-Wali Akik, Chief of Staff of the Saharawi People’s Liberation Army, in his speech expressed sincere thanks and gratitude to Lt. Gen. Said Chanegriha, Chief of Staff of the
Algerian People’s National Army, for the warm reception and generous hospitality accorded to the Sahrawi delegation in the country of martyrs, generosity and destination for the free people.
He also conveyed to him the greetings and appreciation of Mr. Ibrahim Ghali, President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, to his brother, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, President of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, and through them to the Algerian people and army.
He also extended his thanks and greetings to the Chiefs of Staff of NARC Member States, the Executive Secretary and Head of the Planning Element, noting the effort made by the experts of Member States and the Planning Element in preparing for this meeting.
He reaffirmed the fulfillment of the Sahrawi state of all its obligations in this regard, he concluded his speech by congratulating Lt. Gen. Said Chanegriha on Algeria’s assumption of NARC rotating presidency wishing success for the work of this meeting and further progress for NARC.
Mr. Ahmed Al-Tajouri, Executive Secretary of NARC, also made a statement in which he saluted Chiefs of Staff of NARC member states and the delegations participating in these important regular meetings, which represent NARC’s strategic leadership and come as a complement to the follow-up to the work progress of NARC’s components.
He extended his highest thanks and appreciation to the people and leadership of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, headed by Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, President of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria. He also thanked Lt. Gen, Saïd CHANEGRIHA, Chief of Staff of People’s National Army, for the warm reception and generous hospitality.
He also highly lauded member states’ support for NARC since its establishment more than a decade ago, in which NARC faced many challenges, and had it not been for their support, it would not have been able to continue until this time, stressing that there have been gains made thanks to the efforts of our countries that cannot be overlooked, the latest of which was holding a logistic exercise in the region, which was carried out. in Cairo last year.
He informed Chiefs of Staff that the Executive Secretariat, since its mandate in this regard, has been calling on Tunisia and Mauritania on more than one occasion, on the sidelines of the meetings of the African Union Commission and other meetings at NARC headquarters, to access NARC.
After the welcoming statements of Chiefs of Staff, the 11th meeting of the Chiefs of Staff Committee proceeded to review and adopt its agenda.
The committee also approved report of the 14th meeting of experts, which was held in Algiers; 2 to 4 May 2023, as well as report of Chiefs of Staff Committee.