Algerian Pres. meets visiting French FM

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was received by Algerian President Abdulaziz Bouteflika at the presidential palace in El Mouradia on Monday after having held meetings with other senior officials in Algeria. Present at the talks was Algeria's Prime Minister Abdulmalek Sallal and Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra, both of whom had held separate talks with the visiting French official. Earlier on Monday, Sallal and Fabius discussed enacting decisions made in a recent joint high-level government committee meeting, according to an Algerian presidency statement. The talks focused on economic relations, whereby both agreed on the need to increase cooperation on the matter. On the political, diplomatic and security fronts, they discussed the state of affairs in the Sahel region of Africa, stressing the need to maintain consultations aimed at contributing to security and stability efforts in this region.