Rome - Italy and Algeria, "both victims of illegal immigration" are to hold a summit to discuss ways to control migratory flows and work closer on curbing terrorism, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Tuesday.

Frattini made the remarks during a joint news conference with his Algerian counterpart, Mourad Medelci, in Rome.

The summit would be held Algiers in the "coming weeks" and would also focus on closer economic ties between the two Mediterranean nations, Frattini said.

Italy remains one of the main entry points used by would-be immigrants attempting to reach Europe, while, Algeria, along its southern borders continues to experience the illegal entry of nationals from other African countries, Frattini said.

There is a need control illegal immigration "at its source," Medelci said, adding that the problem can only be solved through international co-operation.

Besides immigration, discussions at the coming summit would centre on developing a protocol on fighting terrorism, the two ministers said.

In recent years Italian authorities have arrested several Algerians suspected of links to the Islamist militant group, al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb
(previously known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat).

The group, believed by some to have ties to Osama bin-Laden's al-Qaeda, is involved in an insurgent campaign aimed at overthrowing the Algerian government and replacing it with an Islamist state.

Frattini and Medelci said measures to increase Italian investment in Algeria and trade between the two nations would also dominate the coming summit's agenda.

In September Italy's gas network Snam Rete Gas and the Galsi consortium signed a commitment to build a 900-km pipeline to bring some 8 billion cubic metres a year of Algerian gas to Italy which depends on natural gas imports to feed its energy needs. (dpa)