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Tunisia president pushes ties with Algeria in debut visit

Xinhua, February 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi started Wednesday a two-day visit to Algeria to boost bilateral ties and have talks on the growing threat of terror groups on the borderline.

This is the first visit of Essebsi abroad since he was elected president of Tunisia in December.

During the visit, Essebsi will discuss with the Algerian side the situation in the Maghreb and Sahel regions.

The two neighboring nations have been stepping up intelligence and military coordination to track down terrorist groups, following the killing of 12 Tunisian troops late in 2013.

The trade exchange between the two countries increased in 2013 by 19 percent to 1.7 billion U.S. dollars year-on-year, which makes Algeria the largest Arab and African partner to Tunisia.

Algeria has strongly supported Tunisia in its efforts to get out of the four-year long transitional period, after the fall of Ben Ali's administration in 2011.

Last year, Tunisia received 100 million dollars in financial aid from Algeria to curb the economic crisis hitting the nation. Endit