French President Francois Hollande on Thursday held talks at the Elysee Palace with Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal mainly on bilateral relations as well as the security situation in the Sahel-Sahara region.

Sellal is here at the head of a large delegation to take part in a summit with French Prime Minister Manuel Valls and both sides are expected to ink a number of cooperation agreements, particularly in the energy sector and for infrastructure.
Separate meetings also took place with French and Algerian foreign ministers earlier today when political and security issues were principally addressed, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said.

“The meetings of the (Foreign) Minister with his Algerian counterpart allowed us to broach the political and security challenges in the Sahel-Sahara region. “France notably supports the mediation carried out by Algeria in Mali with a view to a lasting accord between all the Malian parties,” Nadal added.

“The two ministers, who share the same concern with the deterioration of the situation in Libya, discussed support for the mediation of the United Nations in this country.

“They also discussed cooperation in the fight against terrorism and the issue of global warming and climate change,” the official noted.