US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is holding talks in Algeria to press for a possible military intervention in neighbouring Mali, large swathes of which have been overrun by Islamists.
The US and France have launched a diplomatic offensive to secure Algeria's vital backing for such action in Mali, where al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is tightening its grip on the north.
The UN Security Council this month called on West African nations to step up preparations for a military force to reconquer the territory held by AQIM and other jihadist groups.
"Algeria being the strongest Sahel state became a critical partner in dealing with AQIM," a US State Department official said aboard Clinton's plane, which touched down in Algiers on Monday morning.
"In the context of what happened in north Mali when the government forces up there collapsed and the coup happened, Algeria's importance has become ever more important and it will really be a central focus in the talks between the secretary and president," said the official.
"There is a strong recognition that Algeria has to be a central part of the solution," the official added.
Clinton, on her second visit to Algeria after a trip last year, was on Monday holding talks with Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci before a meeting and lunch with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
Algeria shares a long border with Mali, where extremists and rebel groups took over large parts of the north after a coup in March.
Both it and Mauritania have called for dialogue in a bid to reach a political solution, after initially ruling out sending troops.
The common influence among the fundamentalist armed groups ruling northern Mali is AQIM, which originated in Algeria and is active in regional countries including Mauritania.
The Security Council on October 12 approved a resolution urging West African states to speed up preparations for a force of up to 3000 troops that would attempt to recapture northern Mali.
It gave the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) until November 26 to clarify its plans.
Algeria, with its powerful army, was at first opposed to any military intervention in Mali, fearing a destabilisation of its territory inhabited by 50,000 Tuaregs.
Since April, AQIM and Tuareg allies Ansar Dine and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) have imposed Islamist sharia law in parts of Mali that they have effectively partitioned.
According to another State Department official travelling with Clinton, Algeria has been "warming to the idea" of intervention led by West African states.
"One of the things that we'll be talking about is ... the role that Algeria could play if ECOWAS provides the boots on the ground... in coordination with the forces of Mali," the official said.
The United States and France are willing to provide the international force with logistical support, but analysts say Algeria's backing is essential.
"An intervention in northern Mali is possible without the military support of Algeria, but not without its consent," said Pierre Boilley, head of the Centre of African Studies, a French think-tank.
Algeria's foreign ministry said the talks with Clinton would focus on "the consolidation of the security and economic partnership between the two countries as well as regional issues."
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