Algeria Says U.S. Ought to Address Arab Discontent

10/05/2001| IslamWeb

WASHINGTON (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Algeria's president on Monday endorsed the U.S. war on terrorism but said the West must seek to address the causes of discontent in the Muslim world, including poverty and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Speaking after half an hour of Oval Office talks with President Bush, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika alluded to his nation's decade-long battle against Muslim militants in which 100,000 people have died. 
Bush met Bouteflika at the start of a week in which he is seeking to shore up backing for the war on terrorism that he declared after the Sept. 11 hijacked plane attacks on New York and Washington that killed about 4,800 people.
U.S. National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters the meeting covered the war on terrorism as well as trade and investment, saying Bush thanked Bouteflika ``for his support in the fight against terrorism and noted that Algeria had suffered greatly in this regard.
Bouteflika said the West must look at some of the underlying causes of discontent in the Muslim world, including the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and widespread poverty.
Bush last met Bouteflika on July 12, when he urged the leader of the North African country to pursue economic and political reforms. That meeting marked the first official visit to Washington by an Algerian head of state in 16 years.
Muslim militants launched a violent campaign against Algeria's government after the Algerian military intervened in 1992 to scrap a general election which Islamists had been on the verge of winning.
McCormack, the U.S. spokesman, said Bush still believed Algerian economic and political reform was important but said he did not think the two men discussed the topic on Monday.