Ghannouchi on official visit to Algeria

The leader of Tunisia’s Islamic Renaissance Party, Ennahdah, Rachid Ghannouchi, started an official visit on Sunday to neighbouring Algeria, at the invitation of President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Anadolu news agency reported.

The Algerian Press Service, APS said that Parliament Speaker, Mohammed Al-Arabi Ould Khalifa and Prime Minister, Abdul Malik Sellal and Minister of State, Ahmed Ouyahia joined the President who received Ghannouchi in Algiers.

Ghannouchi and Bouteflika are said to have discussed the Algerian- Tunisian bilateral relations, as well as the regional situation in north African countries.

Tunisia and Algeria cooperate closely on security matters, especially amid growing fears of terrorist organizations carrying out hostile operations in their territories. There are also serious concerns over the declining security situation in Libya, as well the mountainous border areas between Tunisia and Algeria. The armies of both countries have been carrying out joint operations on both sides of the Mount Al Shabani to destroy terrorist bases.

Ghannouchi has a personal relationship with President Bouteflika that dates back to the end of the 1980s when the former fled to Algeria following a death sentence issued against him during the rule of former Tunisian president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

More recently, Algeria, through its ambassador in Tunisia, Abdel-Qader Haggar, mediated to bridge the gap between Ennahda and the Call of Tunisia Party led by former Prime Minister, Beji Caid Essebsi.