Sahara nations to set up desert patrol force

Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Algeria will set up, within 18 months, a joint force of up to 75,000 soldiers to secure their shared Sahara-Sahel desert zone, Mali's foreign minister said.

"The number of soldiers in the force tasked with fighting terrorism will increase to 75,000 in the next 18 months," Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga said on Friday.

Leaders from the four nations gathered in Mali to look at security issues, including the fall-out from the conflict in Libya, which experts say has increased the access to arms.

The four nations are struggling to control the zone, where al-Qaeda's North African wing has stepped up attacks and is operating alongside smugglers, rebels and local criminals.

A joint command centre has been established in Tamanrasset, in southern Algeria, but regional rivalries and the lack of trust between the countries have long stymied a coordinated regional approach European nations and the US have called for.