Algérie Presse Service (APS) - October 13, 2012
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed yesterday in Washington the reforms implemented by Algeria and expressed her satisfaction with the security measures taken by the Algerian authorities to secure the American embassy in Algiers in the face of violence that rocked several Muslim countries last September.

Mrs. Clinton made that comment in the course of an address devoted to democratic transitions in the Maghreb and delivered at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.

Discussing the democratic process unfurled in Tunisia and Libya after the violent upheavals experienced in the two countries in 2011, Secretary Clinton stressed that other countries in the Maghreb, including Algeria, "have not gone through such revolutions but recent events have tested their values and their determination."

For Mrs. Clinton, "Algeria has a lot to gain by adopting the changes occurring around it and we have noticed some changes" through the reforms being implemented in the country.

In that regard, she noted that the Algerian government "has held legislative elections last May and it had invited, for the first time, international observers to monitor those elections."

In words perceived as thanks addressed to the Algerian authorities, the U.S. secretary of state insisted to underscore that the Algerian government "reacted quickly, last month, to secure diplomatic missions, including the U.S. embassy, to defuse tensions in the streets," in order to prevent any acts of violence in the aftermath of a movie insulting Islam and put on the Internet.

Moreover, discussing U.S. support for the democratic transition movement in the Middle East and North Africa, Mrs. Clinton said that U.S. policy in the region will always take into account of U.S. "interests and values", which, according to her, consist in promoting democracy and human rights, defeating Al Qaeda, defending allies and partners, and ensuring safe energy supply.

In her address, the secretary of state also discussed the situation in Mali, which is facing a political, security and humanitarian crisis.

According to Mrs. Clinton, the chaos and ethnic conflicts in Mali have helped Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) to move "into wider safety zones, as it looks to expand its action and its networks in multiple directions."
Consequently, she sad, the United States "is using all possible means to help our partners fight terrorism and deal with their security problems."

On that point, she indicated that U.S. Command for Africa (Africom) was recently reinforced with regional expertise, with the objective of "better integrating our approach" to fighting terrorism.