APS – February 13th, 2017.

ALGIERS- "Progress" has been made on the ground, since the signing of the Peace and Reconciliation Agreement in Mali in 2015, Malian Minister of Security and Civil Protection, Salif Traore said in Algiers, welcoming Algeria’s diplomatic and security support.
"Since its signing, two years ago, the agreement has witnessed progress but there had also been certain obstacles. This is why Minister Lamamra paid on February 10th  a visit to Bamako in an attempt to shift position lines," he told the press following his meeting with State Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ramtane Lamamra.
The Malian minister said he "is optimistic" that the results "we had reached would allow us to make further significant progress, notably in the setting up of the interim authorities, the resumption of joint patrols, as part of the joint operational mechanism."
Indeed, "I would like to thank Lamamra and congratulate him for what he had achieved last Friday in Bamako, where he chaired a high-level meeting of the Agreement Follow-up," he said.
Lamamra met with several ministers of the Malian government, the signatory parties and the representatives of the international community.
Traoré also hailed the role of the Algerian government and people and its  "constant and unwavering" support for the Malian people, notably by "hosting for months the talks that had been culminated in this agreement and also for its permanent efforts for its implementation."
He said that his visit aimed at "boosting" the cooperation between the two countries’ security forces, adding that Algeria supports the Malian security forces since the 1960s.
On February 11th, he handed over to Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal, a message of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta to his "brother and friend" President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika.