Army chiefs from the United States and nine west and north African countries attended on Wednesday in Dakar a conference to strengthen counter-terrorism fight in the Sahara region, according to the Senegalese army.

The one-day conference took place under the presidency of Trans-Saharan Counter-terrorism Partnership (TSCTP), a network made up of the United States and nine countries from the Maghreb and Sahel region, Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Mali and Mauritania.

The conference is aimed at setting up counter-terrorism mechanisms to prevent terror threat from taking root along the Saharan countries border zones, said Colonel Antoine Wardini, head of Senegalese army's public relations department.

The conference just came a day after the announcement by the US Defense Secretary Robert Gates of the creation of a special regional command for Africa to oversee American military operations and relations with the continent.

(Xinhua News Agency February 8, 2007)