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Pentagon calls for new cooperation with Algeria to counteract growing Russian influence in Africa
Source: Washington Post
Pentagon calls for new cooperation with Algeria to counteract growing Russian influence in Africa
By Missy Ryan
10/1/2020, 5:17:14 p.m.
ALGIERS — Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper met with leaders in the capital of Algeria on Thursday, making a rare high-level American visit to the largely isolated North African nation.
The Pentagon chief, during a stop on his first official tour of African countries, spent about five hours in Algiers, meeting with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and laying a wreath at a memorial honoring Algerians who died in the country’s war for independence from France.
“All Americans have a soft spot in their heart for a people who want and pursue and fight for their own liberty,” Esper said following lunch at the presidential palace in the hills above the Mediterranean.
The last U.S. defense secretary to visit Algeria, open only to limited outside commerce and tourism, was Donald H. Rumsfeld in 2006. In 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a brief stop before a longer stay in Morocco, rankling officials in Algiers.
Pentagon officials say they see an opening to expand U.S. defense ties with Algeria and, they hope, counteract growing Russian influence across Africa.
-snip-
By Missy Ryan
10/1/2020, 5:17:14 p.m.
ALGIERS — Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper met with leaders in the capital of Algeria on Thursday, making a rare high-level American visit to the largely isolated North African nation.
The Pentagon chief, during a stop on his first official tour of African countries, spent about five hours in Algiers, meeting with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and laying a wreath at a memorial honoring Algerians who died in the country’s war for independence from France.
“All Americans have a soft spot in their heart for a people who want and pursue and fight for their own liberty,” Esper said following lunch at the presidential palace in the hills above the Mediterranean.
The last U.S. defense secretary to visit Algeria, open only to limited outside commerce and tourism, was Donald H. Rumsfeld in 2006. In 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a brief stop before a longer stay in Morocco, rankling officials in Algiers.
Pentagon officials say they see an opening to expand U.S. defense ties with Algeria and, they hope, counteract growing Russian influence across Africa.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/us-military-africa-russia/2020/10/01/ac53cf66-0415-11eb-8879-7663b816bfa5_story.html