US seeks to establish a military base in Algeria
Algeria-USA, Politics, 7/21/2003

The Algerian daily L' Occidental De Oran said yesterday that the American government is negotiating with the Algerian authorities at the meantime over founding an American military base to the south of Algeria.

The paper said that Algeria is one of the African states with which the US wants to have a military existence on its lands in order to eliminate the armed groups and protect its oil interests.

However, negotiations are being carried out between the US defense department and the Algerian defense ministry in order to establish a base that can be used for launching a military operation in the region but not necessarily occupied continuously by soldiers. The paper added that the Pentagon is trying to convince Mali and Niger, which are both close to Algeria to agree to the same project.

It is, however, believed that several members of al-Qaida organization fled for Africa and that the isolated area which constitutes the border between Algeria and Niger maybe a shelter for them.

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