Barak meets Bouteflika for the first time

Israeli sources said that during their discussions at the funeral of Morocco's King Hassan II, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika congratulated Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak for winning his post in Israel, confirming his optimism because Barak has to power. The sources added that Barak promised to Bouteflika that he would achieve progress in the peace process along all tracks, specifically the Syrian and Palestinian tracks, expressing his hope for Syrian cooperation to ratify peace before the start of the new century.