From: "Walter Lippmann" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Mon, 7 May 2001 06:28:49 -0700 To: "CubaNews" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [CubaNews] Castro arrives in Algeria Posted at 8:14 a.m. EDT Sunday, May 6, 2001 Castro arrives in Algeria on first leg of Mideast tour ALGIERS -- (AP) -- Following a decade of travel limited to the Western hemisphere, Cuban President Fidel Castro strayed from his usual diplomatic path late Saturday when he arrived in Algeria for talks with government leaders. Castro -- who was greeted by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and other high-ranking members of the government -- has visited the North African nation numerous times, particularly in the 1970s. He had a close relationship with Algeria's second president, Houari Boumediene, whom Bouteflika served as foreign minister. ``Our two peoples have known these last 10 years difficult situations that had to be surmounted,'' Castro said shortly after debarking at Algeria's international airport. He was to hold talks with Bouteflika on Sunday. Because of security concerns, Cuba's communist government almost never announces Castro's travel schedule in advance. But Algeria, Iran and Malaysia had all said Cuba's leader was coming. Castro also may visit Qatar on the Arabian Peninsula across the Persian Gulf from Iran. Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said during a visit to Qatar in February that Castro likely would visit there this year. Such trips are rare these days for the 74-year-old Cuban leader. Castro's travels in recent years have been concentrated largely in the Western hemisphere, mostly for regional summits in Latin America and the Caribbean. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
