Pentagon chief heads to Algeria to boost security ties

The United States secretary of defence, Mark Esper, heads to Algeria on Thursday to boost ties at a time when the North African country is trying to mediate two long-running conflicts in neighbouring Libya and Mali. Esper, the first defence secretary to visit Algiers in almost 15 years, hopes “to deepen cooperation with Algeria on key regional security issues, such as the threat posed by extremist groups,” a senior US military official said. Esper, due in the country as part of a North Africa tour, will arrive in Algiers after talks in neighbouring Tunisia, before heading to Morocco. “Algeria is a committed counterterrorism partner,” General Stephen Townsend, head of the US Africa Command, said on a recent visit to Algiers. US military officials frequently visit Tunisia and Morocco, where defence cooperation with Washington is well established. But Esper will be the first defence secretary to visit Algeria, an ally of Russia and China, since Donald Rumsfeld in 2006. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">