Europe is treading very carefully for fear of offending the sensititivies of Algeria's military-backed authorities, who reject all foreign initiatives dealing with their country's political problems. Last week they publicly rejected a mission made up of senior officials, saying that their level was inappropriate for the importance of the issues to be discussed.

The EU delegation has now been upgraded to the level of junior ministers. The EU has also watered down the mandate of its mission, which will now carry out the vague task of pursuing political dialogue with Algeria. The EU ministers will undoubtedly hear from their Algerian hosts complaints about Europe's asylum laws. The authorities here say that some European governments are tolerating the presence in their countries of Islamist networks which provide the armed groups in Algeria with money and weapons.