Bouteflika: We will not establish ties with Israel

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has said, "Algeria will not establish relations with Israel until after its withdrawal from all occupied Arab territories and its honoring of the rights of the Palestinian people to establish their own independent state."

In a statement to the Italian daily Le Republica issued on Tuesday, the Algerian president, currently visiting Rimini, said, "We will discuss starting bilateral relations only in one case: if Israel proceeds forward in maintaining a full withdrawal from the Syrian Golan Heights and south Lebanon and if it honors the full rights of the Palestinians to establish their own independent state."

Concerning the referendum on the national reconciliation project in Algeria, the Algerian president said the referendum will "draw the line between what is legitimate and what is not legitimate."