Algeria opposes a proposal by some EU countries to set up holding centres in North Africa to halt the flow of illegal immigrants to the European Union, Foreign Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem said on Sunday. Algeria is the second North African country after Tunisia to reject the proposals set out by Germany earlier this month for centres to process the immigrants outside EU borders, notably in North Africa. Italy supported the plans. "Algeria cannot accept having a camp on a Maghreb country's territory where illegal immigrants will be cooped up, waiting for their papers to be processed in a European country," official news agency APS quoted him as saying.
