Algeria calls for stronger initiative to avoid civil war in Syria

Algeria\'s foreign minister Mourad Medelci Algeria\'s foreign minister, Mourad Medelci said on Wednesday an Arab initiative to resolve the Syrian crisis must be given \"maximum chance\" to broker a change of power through dialogue and avert civil war. Medelci, who was a guest in the meeting of Foreign Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly, added \"Syria is a major concern for the Arab countries; today it finds itself in a pre-civil war situation.\"
\"We are in a situation where we are putting pressure on the Syrian government on one hand and, on the other hand, talking to the opposition to facilitate dialogue,\" Medelci continued.
He also pointed out that the diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Syria have stalled, after President Bashar Al-Assad had rejected a peace plan offered in early November by the 22-state Arab League. That plan calls for government forces to be withdrawn and Arab observers to be allowed into Syria.
In another context, Medelci said \"I confirm that President Abdel Jalil will be in Algeria very soon, probably by the end of the year.” He added “Libya and Algeria have no choice but to work more closely together.”
During these talks between Algerian politicians and their French counterparts  talks focused on the two countries, while the head of the Algerian diplomacy in the meeting talked about his country’s political reforms since 2000, and other reforms in education as the economy, referring to the Constitution of 2008 that gave a special role for women in Algeria.