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RABAT-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pushed for closer north African counter-terrorism cooperation on Saturday on a tour of an oil-rich region hit by attacks blamed on al Qaeda.Rice, who arrived in staunch U.S. ally Morocco late on Saturday after visiting Algeria and Tunisia and holding a historic meeting with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli, told reporters in Algiers she had been saddened by attacks in Algeria that killed scores of people."The cooperation here is good," she said after talks with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, adding the two countries had affirmed their "strong ties" in the discussions."But there is always more that you can do to tighten sharing of information, to make sure you have all the right channels to give technical support in terms of the terrorism threat," she said, referring to north African states generally."It is not a secret that it is a problem that has really been very salient in the Maghreb."An estimated 125 people were killed in an upsurge of political violence in Algeria in August in attacks by al Qaeda's north Africa wing and clashes between the army and militants.The periodic violence worries many in the region because the country on the southern shores of the Mediterranean is a major energy exporter to Europe and its 34 million people are still searching for stability after years of political strife.An Islamist revolt began in 1992 in Algeria after the then military-backed authorities, fearing an Iran-style revolution, scrapped an election an Islamist party was set to win. More than 150,000 people have been killed in the ensuing violence.To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah...
