United States will not mix in Algerian internal affairs, ambassador says

Talking Monday in a press conference at the US embassy here in Algiers, the US ambassador Robert Ford declared that the problem of the Algerian detainees in Guantanamo, is up to the Algerian authorities to solve it, denying any allegations saying that the negotiations between the two countries resulted in a stalemate.

• Ford went on saying that the US authorities are still waiting clarifications from their Algerian counterparts regarding the rules governing the detainees and to judge them accordingly.
• He echoed the US deputy secretary of foreign affairs David Walsh’s words saying” we wish the repatriation of the Algerian detainees” and linked this with the success of the coordination between both countries.
• Replying to the journalists’ question regarding the upcoming presidential elections as well as the revision of the constitution, Robert Ford declined to give his point of view as he considers the matter as interference in the Algerian internal affairs, but added that his government encourages the Algerian people to seek other outlets at the political, economic and cultural levels.
• Finally, the US ambassador denied allegations that his country intended to establish a military base in Africa, saying that his government’s program doesn’t “go beyond cooperation with North, Western, Central and Sub Saharan countries “including Mali, Niger and Mauritania stressing the importance of this program in securing the borders from arms, drug and terrorism, the phenomenon that Algeria suffered a lot from.