US-Algerian cooperation prospects in the limelight in Washington DC

Senior US officials have hailed Algeria's ongoing liberalization reform process and reaffirmed the US government's will to further bolster cooperation ties with Algeria notably in the sustained fight against the nefarious scourge of terrorism on the occasion of Mr Mourad Medelci's visit to Washington DC.

• Algeria’s foreign minister arrived in Washington on Monday to discuss the continuing unrest across North Africa, in particular the ongoing conflict in Libya, the ministry announced Sunday.
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• Invited by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Mourad Medelci also met with prominent officials at the White House and the State Department.
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• Mr Medelci notably held talks with William Burns, Under Secretary for Political Affairs and the number three diplomat at the State Department, and Daniel Benjamin, the State Department’s coordinator for counterterrorism.
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• Daniel Benjamin visited Algiers on March 4 to discuss ways of boosting US-Algerian cooperation against terror with on focus the activities of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), responsible for the kidnapping and in some cases killing of a number of foreign nationals.
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• AQIM is also suspected of having been behind last Thursday’s bomb attack on a cafe in Marrakesh, Morocco, which killed 16 people, most of them foreigners.
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• The Libya conflict was also on the agenda at the talks in Washington between Mr Medelci and US officials.
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• The Washington discussions were an opportunity for Mr Medelci to clearly expound Algeria’s position on the conflict based on the steadfast principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.