Balkhadem to visit Morocco, shortly

Algeria's Minister of State For Foreign Affairs Abdul Aziz Balkhadem said yesterday he intends to pay a unique visit to Morocco by the beginning of February in an evident indication that the cool relations between the two countries have been "improved."

Balkhadem said he will head shortly to Morocco after he comes back from a visit to France. He added he will accompany the Algerian President Abdul Aziz Butaflika in a private visit to Paris on February 5th. Balkhadem gave no set date for the visit to Morocco which will be his first since he assumed his post in 2000.

However, relations have been repeatedly tense between the two states along 25 years because of the conflict over the Western Sahara. Borders between the two states are blocked since 1994.

Diplomats concerned said that France, a former colonial force in North Africa, has been mediating to improve relations between Algeria and Rabat.