ALGIERS, 5 December 2003 — US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday praised Algeria’s cooperation with Washington in the US-led war on terrorism but pressed the country’s leaders over human rights and urged them to hold a “free and transparent” presidential election next year.
“Our bilateral relationship has never been stronger than it is today,” Powell said after meeting with Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Foreign Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem on the last stop of a North African tour.
He praised “Algeria’s exceptional cooperation in the war against terrorism. We look forward to strengthening this cooperation even more in the months and years ahead.”
“Democratic progress and economic modernization are also fundamental to the interests of Algeria and to our expanding relationship. Press freedoms, broad political participation and respect for human rights are important pillars in this process; so too is preparation for free, fair and transparent elections in Algeria next year.”
Powell arrived in Algeria on Wednesday from Morocco, where he met with King Mohammed VI in Marrakech. It was the last stop of his whirlwind three-nation tour aimed at drumming up support for Washington’s war or terrorism. He later left for Brussels to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization today.
On the issue of the Western Sahara, Powell reaffirmed, as he had done earlier in Marrakech, that Washington does “not seek to impose a solution to any party. We encourage by bilateral dialogue” to resolve the dispute between Morocco and the Algerian-backed Polisario Front.
In Marrakech, Powell called on the Palestinian leadership to commit itself to fighting “terrorism” as a key step towards reactivating the stalled Mideast peace roadmap. He also unveiled a fourfold increase in economic assistance to Morocco to help it fight Islamic extremism and undertake political reforms.
