Libya's NTC chief visits Algeria

ALGIERS - The chief of Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) Mustafa Abdul Jalil started a two-day official visit to Algeria on Sunday to discuss latest developments of the region, a sign of further warming up of their bilateral relations.

Jalil, who headed a high-level delegation, was welcomed at the airport by Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, top government officials and diplomatic representatives.

Jalil's visit aims to consolidate the "consultation and cooperation traditions between the two Maghreb nations" and extend such cooperation to other sectors, APS news agency reported quoting a statement by Algerian president office.

The relations between Algerian government and the NTC were damaged during the unrest in Libya, when Algeria remained neutral and initially refused to recognize the NTC as the sole representative of Libyan people.

Algeria has expressed worries that the spread of uncontrolled arms may fall into hands of terrorist groups in the desert. Some senior NTC officials accused Algeria of backing up the Gaddafi regime with weapons, but Algerian government denied such accusations.

"The visit will be an occasion to discuss recent developments occurring in the region," the statement said.

Last November, Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani managed to reconcile the two sides when he seized the opportunity of the presence of Bouteflika and Jalil who both attended Doha gas exporter countries' summit. Since then, the two parties started exchanging top level visits to warm up bilateral relations.