ALGIERS, September 6, 2008 (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice talked terrorism in Algeria Saturday with President Abedelaziz Bouteflika, as her North Africa visit edged towards its conclusion.

'We have talked about our strong interest in fighting terrorism, our counterterrorism cooperation and I said to the president that I was very saddened at the loss of life of innocent Algerians in recent terror incidents,' Rice said after their two-hour meeting.

Rice's route within Algeria was the subject of heightened security precautions, after a jihadist on an Islamist website urged the north African branch of Al-Qaeda to assassinate Rice during her regional tour.

'Our counterterrorism people think that our cooperation is good,' she said. 'But there is always more you can do to tighten sharing of information.'

Several Algerian newspapers reported Saturday that the army killed an armed Islamist, said to be a senior member of Al-Qaeda's Maghreb organisation, in the eastern Kabylie region, although no official confirmation was forthcoming.

Pressed on Human Rights Watch claims of disappearances of former Guantanamo Bay terror suspects upon their repatriation -- also a theme in earlier talks in Libya and Tunisia, and due to be reprised in Morocco -- Rice said: 'We believe this is okay.'

'You know that our goal is to work with the right security provisions and the right human rights protection for the people. Our goal is to return as many people to their country of origin as possible.'

Rice did not indicate if the pair discussed the disputed Western Sahara territory.

She was to leave Algiers later Saturday for Morocco, and the head of the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, Mohamed Abdelaziz, urged Rice to convince Rabat to 'respect the right of the Saharawi people' to self-determination, SPS news agency reported.

Morocco and Polisario have been engaged in UN-sponsored negotiations over the former Spanish colony's future since June last year.

After her landmark meeting Friday with former Western pariah, Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, Rice said she held a 'very good and extensive discussion' with Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on Saturday morning.

However, she ignored the fifth Maghreb nation of Mauritania, amid US refusal to recognise the legitimacy of its leaders after a military coup there.

The Tunisian talks focused on reforms in the country. Ben Ali was nominated as a candidate in July for a fifth five-year term come presidential elections in 2009.

Rice told journalists on the flight to Algiers that there had been some political reform, but stressed that Washington made very clear its hope that Tunis would do more -- particularly in the lead up to the 2009 election.

She said she wanted to see media access, freedom on the Internet and access to television for the opposition enshrined as political rights.

But Rice also highlighted 'the extraordinary role of women in Tunisia,' adding: 'Women have made great progress here.'

A planned visit to a cemetery for US dead from World War II before Rice left for Algeria was cancelled.

Rice arrived in Tunis from Tripoli where she was the first US secretary of state to visit for 55 years, sealing a rapprochement between the two countries in a timely foreign policy success for the outgoing administration of George W. Bush.