David Welch, an assistant secretary of state, said on a visit to this North African country that the United States wants to send terror suspects held at Guantánamo home but must be assured they do not present a danger.
Defense Department documents released under the Freedom of Information Act indicate that the United States has held 25 Algerian citizens as ''enemy combatants'' at Guantánamo.
It is not clear whether any have been sent to other nations.
Hundreds of Algerians were known to have joined terror training camps in Pakistan or Afghanistan in the 1990s, making them a significant bloc among the foreigners drawn to Osama bin Laden.
Welch expressed hope that an accord with Algeria could be concluded shortly regarding its citizens, suggesting the aim is to send some home, according to Algeria's official APS news agency.
The question is whether some prisoners should be tried, and "if that is not the case, that doesn't mean they are not dangerous,'' APS quoted Welch as saying.
One Algerian, Soufian Barhoumi, had earlier been charged at a since canceled case at the U.S. war court, or Military Commission. New charges have not been sworn out in the latest effort to stage the U.S. war crimes tribunal at the remote U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba.
U.S. President George W. Bush has said he would like to close Guantánamo, where 275 prisoners remain, suspected of links to the al Qaeda terror network.
Welch said assurances are needed that sending a prisoner home does not open a door to danger. He said some prisoners returned to their homelands were later freed.
Algeria could pose special problems. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has offered an amnesty under a 2006 plan that freed thousands of Islamic insurgents from jails, a bid to reconcile the country after years of violence. Some are known to have returned to their hideouts to fight again. Meanwhile, a homegrown terror group has affiliated itself with al Qaeda.
An estimated 200,000 people have been killed since the start of the insurgency in 1992, triggered by an army decision to cancel national elections that a Muslim fundamentalist party was poised to win.
Welch expressed U.S. support for Algeria's fight against terrorism.
He also said the United States was ready to study an arms sales to Algeria eventually, APS quoted him as saying, without elaborating.
Ties between Washington and Algiers have strengthened, particularly since the 9/11 terror attacks, with a once-isolated Bouteflika seen as a key player in the fight against terrorism.
