Reykjavik Transit

Mauritania?
-- The $8.4 million Pan Sahel Initiative (PSI), which provided counterterrorism training for the security forces of Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Chad during 2003-2004. As a follow-up, the United States started the Trans Sahara Counterterrorism Initiative (TSCTI) in 2005, which includes the four Sahel countries and adds Algeria, Senegal, Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia and potentially Libya. Funding for TSCTI may reach $500 million over the next seven years.

The purpose of these programs is to improve the military and political capability of the African governments to meet the terrorist threat by providing training and equipment not only for counterterrorist units but also for "development assistance, expanded public diplomacy, and support for improved governance and human rights," Shinn said.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.)