Bouteflika: No Algerian contacts with Israel

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has asserted that his country has no secret or open contact with Israel. In a statement to the London-based al-Hayat daily issued on Thursday, the Algerian president said, "Our position is clear in this regard, as we cannot establish relations of any sort with Israel unless being in the framework we have set providing for establishing a just and comprehensive peace between the Arabs and Israel."

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika stressed Algeria's backing for Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians in the Middle East peace process negotiations.

He asserted that Algeria will not be used to isolate its brothers, stressing the need for Israel's abidance by UN resolutions which states Israel's complete withdrawal from the occupied Syrian Golan and south Lebanon and the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as a capital.