ALGIERS, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Algeria will host a high-level African meeting on combating terrorism-financing next month, Algerian Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel announced Sunday.

Following his talks with visiting Chairperson of African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki in Algiers, Messahel told reporters that the meeting will be held on April 9, as it has been approved by the AU Peace and Security Council in September 2014 to enhance cooperation in combating terrorism among the African states.

Messahel pointed out that the meeting is of great importance given the current circumstances, as it will be an opportunity to exchange views on counterterrorism laws within the member states, and ultimately draw up unified positions between them in this field.

It also aims to identify the role of African bodies working in the field of combating terrorism, money laundering, smuggling and crime, he added.

Algeria hosted in October 2017 the working group of the Global Forum to Combat Terrorism in West Africa, in which participants discussed ways and means of fighting terrorism and drying up its funding sources.

Algeria has repeatedly warned that kidnappings in exchange for ransom, transnational organized crime, human trafficking, money laundering, illegal migration, arms and drugs trafficking are providing huge profits for terrorist groups, and help them expand their criminal activity in the region.