Algeria-U.S ties: Remarkable progress in 2011

Algiers(December 25, 2011) – U.S-Algeria ties noticed an important progress in 2011.

 Dynamics of the tight Algerian-U.S ties were embodied in the bilateral cooperation and partnership that define a steady increase in visits by American officials to Algeria.

Algeria’s ambassador to Washington, Abdellah Baali told the APS that USA and Algeria tighten ties on many bilateral levels especially at the political economic, military and security levels, and has expanded to include consultation on regional and international issues.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, during the visit of the Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci to Washington, “The U.S-Algerian ties are very important. USA expresses its gratitude for the excellent cooperation with Algeria in the fight against terrorism”.

In the context of intimate ties between the two countries, particularly in the area of security cooperation, the U.S. President Barack Obama sent his counter-terrorism chief adviser, John Brenan, to Algeria last January to review the status of bilateral ties and to secure ways and means for more progress.

President Barack Obama expressed, through his adviser in the White House, the willingness to build tight ties between the two countries and his gratitude for Algeria’s efforts in security cooperation, especially in the fight against terrorism, considering that Algeria is an important partner in North Africa.

John Brenan’s visit to Algeria was followed by several visits by U.S officials including, the Under Secretary of State William Burns and the Commander of the U.S Forces Command in Africa (AFRICOM) Carter F.Ham, and the Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Filman, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Maghreb, Raymond Maxwell, the Senior Adviser with the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Political and Military Affairs Mark Adams, the Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the U.S State Department, Daniel Benjamin, who visited Algeria twice during 2011 in the framework of the meeting of the Contact Group and co-Algerian U.S. counterterrorism and other security issues.

Benjamin Daniel cited, in every intervention during the debates of the U.S Senate meetings on counterterrorism, the active and reference role by Algeria in the fight against this international scourge.

In order to give greater consistency to the partnership in the fight against terrorism, Algeria embraced the anti-terrorism Core countries seminar (Algeria-Mauritania-Niger-Mali), followed by multilateral talks in Washington gathering representatives of the four African countries and Senior U.S. Officials from the White House and Secretary of State and the Pentagon as well.

According to the Algerian Minister Delegate in charge of the Maghreb and African Affairs, Abdelkader Messahel, the meeting was an important stage in the development of partnership identified in Algeria because the matter comes to purposeful and more concrete talks in the areas of cooperation while respecting the Sahel regions’ choice to solve their own security problem.

Algeria’s international contribution in the fight against terrorism was reflected in its affective participation in launching the Global Counterterrorism Forum last September in New York, as it is one of its founding members.

In recognition to its experience in this area, Algeria was chosen along with Canada, during the same forum, to lead one of the working groups devoted to tightening capacity in the Sahel.

In the economic area, the United States remains the first customer to Algeria, ranked by the U.S. Department of Commerce out of 20 countries which have a surplus in the trade balance with the United States. However; the economic partnership remains confined in hydrocarbons in spite of the existing capacities and advantages offered by Algeria.

In order to give a new impetus for the U.S-Algerian economic cooperation, American businessmen visited Algeria many times in 2011.

In this context, Algeria organized a U.S-Algerian meeting on pharmaceutical industry, which culminated in the signing of an agreement protocol in the field of biotechnology and production of medicines. The U.S laboratories which signed the protocol, that are pioneers in the field of pharmaceutical industry, expressed their hope to make of Algeria a leader in pharmacy and bio-pharmacy in both Africa and Mena.

Under this large project, Algeria is supposed to rank third after Singapore in Asia and Ireland in Europe.

To enhance cooperation in this area, the Algerian Minister of Health Djamel Ould Abbas visited Washington where he met with the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Ms. Kathleen Sebelius, and Boston where he visited several pharmaceutical companies.

Two American economic missions are expected to visit Algeria in 2012, one of them composed mainly of companies operating in the sectors of agriculture, irrigation and construction.

In the context of political changes that characterized several Arab countries, the United States welcomed the significant political and economic reforms undertaken by Algeria peacefully, as it was the first to praise the continuing efforts by Algeria to ensure the best devotion of democracy.

Immediately after the announcement of lifting the state of emergency in Algeria last February, Obama asserted that “USA is ready to continue cooperation with the Algerian government which tries to respond to the needs of all Algerians”.

The congress, in its analysis, showed immediately the difference between the nature of the protests in Algeria at the beginning of 2011 and those which erupted in other countries, where popular revolution led to a complete opposition against the ruling regimes.