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Clinton wraps up visit to Algeria, heads to Morocco

26 February 2012 02:37 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday wrapped up her short visit to Algeria and headed off to Morocco, the last leg of her Maghreb tour, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

In her first visit to the North African country as U.S. Secretary of State, Clinton said her visit was aimed at "boosting bilateral relations and sharing views over the situation in the region."

She said U.S.-Algeria relations are "getting deeper and progressing", adding that Algeria and the United States have established constant dialogues in all fields.

"Algeria, which celebrates her 50th independence anniversary, should occupy her deserved place in the international arena on the 50 upcoming years, with a development program for the benefit of the society," she noted.

Concerning the upcoming parliament election slated for May 10, Clinton said her country was ready to provide technical support. " If we are demanded, we would establish contacts with expert groups in order to work with authorities in Algeria ahead of next elections," she said.

As for the Maghreb Union, the U.S. official said she hoped to spread the message that "the peoples of the Maghreb regions have also the chance to make decisions on their own issues."

The United States was Algeria’s largest importer in 2011, buying up to 61.14 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods, and the Algeria’s imports from the United States hit 59.1 billion dollars in the same year, according to U.S. official figures.