Algiers Defends 'Non-Intervention' Stand in Message to Riyadh

Algeria has defended its stand against foreign military intervention, in a message to Saudi Arabia with which ties are strained over the Yemen conflict and Lebanon, national news agency APS said on Monday.

It said President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in a message to Saudi Arabia's King Salman, stressed that non-interference was a principle for Algiers "and not, as it may appear, a sign of opposition to Arab partners".

He tasked his adviser Tayeb Belaiz with delivering the message to King Salman and at the same time inviting him to visit Algeria.

Algeria has refused to join a Saudi-led military coalition which has for the past year fought against Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen or to sign up to a designation by Riyadh and its Gulf neighbors of Lebanon's Hizbullah as a "terrorist" organization.

Belaiz, quoted by APS, said Algiers always supports "peaceful political solutions" and "rejects violence, which, from its point of view, leads to more violence".