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Tuesday, October 7, 2003

Algeria to hold joint naval exercises with NATO

Associated Press
Algiers, October 5

A NATO anti-terrorism task force was anchoring in Algiers on Sunday on a
three-day mission that includes joint naval exercises with Algerian vessels.
The visit by the six-vessel Operation Active Endeavor underscores the
growing ties between NATO and this North African nation locked in a deadly
conflict with Islamic insurgents for more than a decade.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika visited NATO headquarters in Brussels in
2002, the first such visit by an Algerian chief of state.

NATO vessels have visited Algiers in the past, and Algeria has carried out
joint naval exercises with Atlantic alliance vessels, the latest in
September when Algeria and Egypt participated in exercises off the coast of
Split, in southern Croatia.

Since 2000, Algeria has been part of NATO's "Mediterranean dialogue"
programme aimed at increasing cooperation with key Mediterranean countries,
stepped up since the September 11 attacks. Other members of the programme
are Morocco, Mauritania, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel and Jordan.

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