Photo: U.S. State Department

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton shakes hands with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Algiers, Algeria,.

Office of the Spokesperson

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

Following Meeting with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika

El Mouradia Palace

Algiers, Algeria

SECRETARY CLINTON: First, let me say how pleased I am to be back in Algeria and to have this chance to consult in depth with the President and (inaudible). I want to thank the President for his hospitality in the time that he has spent talking with me and that we will continue over lunch. We reviewed our strong bilateral relationship, including the fact we had an excellent Strategic Dialogue on a number of issues just last week in Washington.

And we had an in-depth discussion of the region, particularly the situation in Mali. I very much appreciated the President's analysis, based on his long experience, as to the many complicated factors that have to be addressed to deal with the internal insecurity in Mali and the terrorist and drug trafficking threat that is posed to the region and beyond. And we have agreed to continue with in-depth expert discussions, to work together bilaterally and with the region - along with the United Nations, and the African Union, and ECOWAS - to determine the most effective approaches that we should be taking.

So again, I thank the President for his time and very helpful observations, and I look forward to continuing our discussion on a matter that is of particular interest to us both.

Thank you very much.