Ahmad 
Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf expressed regret in a phone conversation with his US counterpart, Antony Blinken, over the recent statement issued by the US State Department on freedom of religion in Algeria.
Statements issued by the Algerian Foreign Ministry indicated that Etaf explained to Blinken that the US statement “ignored Algeria’s efforts to enshrine the principle of freedom of belief and religious practice, which is guaranteed by the Algerian constitution in a clear and unambiguous manner.”
He highlighted the dialogue opened by Algeria with the United States on this matter and expressed Algeria’s readiness to receive the US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom to highlight Algeria’s commitments and the realities related to freedom of belief.
On the other hand, the US secretary of state classified Algeria as a monitoring country for violations of religious rights and included it in a list that includes other countries such as Azerbaijan, the Central African Republic, Comoros, and Vietnam.
The telephone conversation between the two ministers also included an exchange of views on several issues on the agenda of the Security Council this month, including the safety of navigation in the Red Sea and the situation in Gaza, in addition to the Palestinian issue and Western Sahara, given that Algeria has become a non-permanent member of this UN body.