Venezuelan president comes to Algeria for working visit

Chavez was calling on Algeria,  whose ties with U.S. have warmed recently with cooperation in the fight against terrorism,  just a day after the United States banned arms sales to Caracas for its alleged lack of support in counterterrorism.

Photo: Venezuelan president comes to Algeria for working visit

The Venezuelan leader also planned to visit Libya, with whom the U.S. just restored diplomatic relations.

Chavez, on his third visit to Algeria, has met numerous times in the past with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika - in Algiers, Caracas and at international forums, according to the AP.

The two leaders share Socialist-style political roots and share views on leading international issues, from Iraq's need for sovereignty and the Palestinians' need for an independent state to the right of Western Sahara's people to their own independence apart from Morocco, which claims the vast kingdom as its own.

Algeria and Venezuela have also worked to improve bilateral ties, signing framework accords for cooperation in the sectors of energy, mining, commerce and culture. The energy sector accord opens the way to oil prospection and gas liquifaction projects between Sonatrach, the Algerian national oil company, and its Venezuelan counterpart.