Regional intelligence chiefs to meet in Kigali

KIGALI - Regional intelligence officers under the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services for Africa (CISSA), are set to convene in Kigali tomorrow to discuss the regional position on security and intelligence, ahead of the CISSA Africa meeting slated to be held in Angola later this year. According to Anaclet Kalibata, the Director General of the Immigration and Emigration Department, the Kigali meeting will plot the continent’s path towards using intelligence to counter security threats. “This meeting will be seeking to reach a common stand of intelligence and how it can be used to foster peace on the continent. Intelligence is vital in tackling issues of insecurity,” Kalibata told The New Times in a phone interview last evening. Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Sudan have already confirmed participation in the meeting that is set to deliberate on the prevailing intercontinental security challenges. CISSA, the continental body of Intelligence and Security Chiefs was formed in 2004 as a platform to discuss major security threats facing the continent including terrorism, espionage, arms trafficking and conspiracy, among others, and how these pressing issues can be confronted head-on. The body is divided into five different regions of the continent and Rwanda is the current chair of the East African Region. The last meeting was held in Kigali early this year and top on the agenda was the FDRL existence in Eastern DRC and the Genocide ideology among others. The Kigali meeting comes at a time when regional security is threatened by pirates off the coast of Somalia who have intensified their attacks on sea vessels plying the Gulf of Eden as well as the FDLR menace on the rise again in Eastern DRC. Ends

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Regional intelligence chiefs to meet in Kigali