The fight against terrorism was at the the heart of the meeting between Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls .The subject is a priority for both countries because they have both not been spared terrorist strikes.
French PM prioritizes terrorism during talks with Algeria's President
The French Prime Minister’s visit to Algeria however comes against backdrop of Algeria’s refusal to issues visas to two French journalists in a row over the Panama papers.
The two reporters from Le Monde newspapers and television show, the Le Petit Journal, were expected to have covered Vall’s visit, in which economic agreements were expected to be signed.
On Sunday the French and Algeria governments at a press conference announced that the two did eventually travel to Algiers
“We have chosen to focus our mission to report by coming to Algiers,” they said, but “ we wanted to express our deepest disappointment and emotions regarding this decision ( denial of visas) , contrary to all practices, which aims to gag those media.
Following their meeting though the French Prime Minister told reporters that they had chosen to focus on the future of the “strategic relationship” between Paris and Algiers.
AFP