Asharq Al-Awsat

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, held talks in Algiers on Monday with Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia.

Discussions focused on bilateral ties and ways of developing them in various fields.

They also addressed regional developments.

Riyadh and Algiers announced in a joint statement the formation of a higher coordination council, chaired by Prince Mohammed and Ouyahia.

The council is aimed at bolstering cooperation in the political, security, economic, trade, investment, energy, mining, cultural and education fields, as well as combating terrorism and extremism.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was unable to receive the Crown Prince because he was suffering from an “acute flu”, said his office.

The Saudi-Algerian business council also convened during Prince Mohammed’s visit. The gatherers agreed on five partnership deals that will be executed in early 2019.

Prince Mohammed had arrived in Algeria on Sunday. It was the sixth and final stop of an Arab tour he had kicked off in late November in the United Arab Emirates.

He then traveled to Bahrain, Egypt and Tunisia.

After a stop at the G20 summit in Argentina, Prince Mohammed resumed his tour Sunday by traveling to Mauritania before heading to Algeria.