Mali’s Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra paid a lightning visit to Mauritania for talks on the crisis in his country as well as terrorism and drug trafficking in the Sahel.

Mali's Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra paid a lightning visit to Mauritania for talks on the crisis in his country as well as terrorism and drug trafficking in the Sahel, AFP reported Sunday.

"I am paying successive visits to countries in the region, Algeria, Mauritania and Niger, for consultations on the options available to deal with common dangers such as terrorism and drug trafficking," the Mauritanian News Agency quoted Diarra as saying.

Speaking after talks with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz late Saturday, he said: "The conversation went well. I noticed that the views of the Mauritanian president and my own are well aligned."

Diarra visited former colonial power France just ahead of his trip to Mauritania.

Northern Mali has been occupied by Tuareg and extremist rebels backed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which said it has been involved in drug trafficking as well as attacks on Westerners in the vast desert region since 2006.

The extremists have the upper hand in the north of Mali, a vast region larger than France, and have set about implementing Sharia, or strict Islamic law.

Mauritania, which borders the northwestern Mali desert, has carried out several raids since 2010 against AQIM bases in the neighboring country with Bamako's consent.

More than 50,000 Malians are refugees in Nouakchott after fleeing their homes as rebels occupied northern towns in the days following a March 22 coup.

Diarra is part of a transition government that took over from the junta and is charged with organizing fresh elections in 11 months.