ALGIERS, July 29, 2008 (AFP) - Algeria's coastguard said Tuesday it had arrested 40 Algerian nationals intercepted aboard two boats off the coast, one after a high-speed chase.

Seventeen of the would-be migrants suspected of heading for Europe were picked up off the port of Annaba after dodging patrol vessels for more than an hour, coastguard commander Mahmoud Cheriak told the Algerian press agency APS.

The second boat, with 23 aboard, was intercepted some 15 nautical miles from the same port, he added.

On Monday, police arrested three would-be migrants who were preparing to depart from a beach near Annaba on a home-made boat. Seven others escaped, police said.

A total of 718 Algerian migrants have been arrested and 38 boats seized in the first six months of 2008, Algeria's navy said. More than 1,500 were arrested in 2007, it said.