Clinton arrives in Algiers, meets President Bouteflika

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met Algeria's president on Saturday during a whistle-stop tour of North Africa.        

Clinton held talks with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci in Algiers.           

During her visit, she warned of backsliding in the democratic transformations under way in the Mideast and North Africa, and appealed for countries in the region to fulfil the promise of reform offered by the Arab Spring.      

Clinton took part in a roundtable meeting of Algerian civil society leaders at the US Embassy, telling them that the people of the Maghreb "need and deserve the opportunity to make decisions on behalf of themselves, because that is good for the dignity and rights of every individual, and it is good for every society."           

She spoke of the need for an accountable and effective government, a dynamic private sector and a vibrant civil society.     

The Maghreb countries are Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, and Morocco, Clinton's final stop before returning to Washington on Sunday.             

Algeria has not witnessed the mass protests calling for reform that ripped through other North African nations.           

But there is widespread discontent over the lack of jobs and housing in the oil-rich country.        

APTN