Delegations from nearly 40 countries have gathered in Algeria for a two-day meeting to discuss the threat of al-Qaida's North Africa affiliate.

The meeting in the capital, Algiers, includes the foreign ministers of neighboring Mali and Mauritania, and comes amid new fears about weapons from the conflict in Libya flooding out of the country into the hands of militants.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb has carried out attacks throughout the region, including a suicide bombing at an Algerian military academy last month that killed 16 officers in training and two civilians.