Algeria joins NATO Mediterranean dialogue

Algeria has agreed to join the North Atlantic Alliance Treaty (NATO) Mediterranean dialogue, a political cooperation program in which Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia are already taking part, MAP reported.

A NATO statement says NATO's standing council, comprising ambassadors, has extended an invitation to Algeria which accepted to be a member of the dialogue.

The Mediterranean dialogue, launched in 1994, is not a military cooperation program but a political forum for developing "good, sound and friendly relationships" between NATO and the Mediterranean countries. It reflects NATO's viewpoint that security in Europe in closely linked to security and stability in the Mediterranean region, NATO explained in its statement.