ALGIERS, July 29, 2008 (AFP) - The Polisario Front announced Tuesday it was ready to enter direct negotiations with Morocco over the Western Sahara but wanted UN mediator Peter Van Walsum to be dropped, Algeria's APS agency said.

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.

ALGER, July 29, 2008 (AFP) - Algerian security forces killed two Al-Qaeda linked extremists, while a soldier was killed and seven others wounded in a separate roadside bomb attack on their patrol, newspapers reported Tuesday.

The Islamists were killed in a security force ambush overnight Sunday in Boudouaou, 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of the capital, the El Watan daily reported.

ALGIERS, July 24, 2008 (AFP) - A suicide bomber on a motorbike blew himself up and injured 13 Algerian soldiers in an attack in Lakhdaria, 70 kilometres (45 miles) east of Algiers, newspapers reported Thursday.

He reportedly slammed his motorbike laden with explosives into a military vehicle that was on its way back to barracks following a patrol on Wednesday.

BAMAKO, July 23, 2008 (AFP) - After recent flare ups and clashes between the Malian army and Tuareg rebels in Northern Mali the peace process was revived this week in what is seen as a spectacular return of mediator Algeria.

ALGIERS, July 22, 2008 (AFP) - The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor's move to indict Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir for war crimes is undermining peace in Darfur, the Algerian minister for African affairs was reported as saying Tuesday.

BAMAKO, July 21, 2008 (AFP) - Mali's government and Tuareg nomads fighting for greater autonomy agreed Monday on a deal to end their conflict after talks brokered by Algeria.

ALGIERS, July 21, 2008 (AFP) - OPEC has sufficient excess capacity to meet any surge in demand, Algerian Energy Minister and Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries President Chakib Khelil said Monday.

ALGIERS, July 21, 2008 (AFP) - Mali's government and Tuareg rebels agreed Monday on an end to their conflict after talks in Algiers, mediator Algeria's ambassador to Mali said.

'The two delegations representing the Malian government and the May 23 Democratic Alliance for Change have reached an agreement on the cessation of hostilities,' Abdelkrim Ghrieb said.

BAMAKO, July 20, 2008 (AFP) - Officials attending talks between Mali's government and Tuareg rebels said Sunday Algeria's mediator might soon be able to announce progress, despite the recent abduction of three Malian gendarmes.