France's Foreign Minister Manuel Valls arrived
in Algiers on Saturday 13 October on a two-day visit. He was met at Algiers?s
Houari Boumédienne Airport by counterpart Daho Ould Kablia.
During his stay he met with several of Algeria's senior ministers, including
Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal, Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci and Minister
of Religious Affairs Bouabdellah Ghlamallah. Valls' visit came
before President Hollande's admission of the October 1961 massacre of Algerians
and there have been no indications as to whether he gave the Algiers regime any
indication of what Hollande mwas to say.
Virtually nothing has been divulged about the purpose of the
visit or the content of the talks held, other than platitudinous remarks in
press in which Valls hailed the “excellent” cooperation between Algeria and
France in anti-terrorism and what he described as the “flawless”
commitment of the Algerian authorities in that regard.
It is widely believed that the main purpose of his visit was to
discuss the Mali situation. Although Valls stressed his agreement with Algeria
on the importance of Mali?s territorial unity and the danger of terrorism in
that country, France and Algeria are fundamentally at odds over how to resolve
the crisis. While France is at the forefront in pushing for international
military intervention and is offering military logistical support for such an
intervention, Algeria is strongly opposed to any such intervention, arguing
instead for a political situation. Valls said, on his departure on Monday 15
October, that France supported “all political processes that would allow
Mali to preserve its territorial integrity.”
For more news and expert
analysis about Algeria, please see Algeria
Focus and Algeria
Politics & Security.
© 2012 Menas Associates
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