Algeria cannot accept break-up of Mali: PM

Algeria will not accept a break-up of its southern neighbour Mali and is very worried by the situation there, Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said in a newspaper interview published on Friday.

"The situation is very, very worrying. It's the site of a lot of tension at our borders and with several dimensions," Ouyahia told the daily Le Monde in an interview conducted on Thursday before Tuareg rebels declared independence in the north of Mali.

Nomadic Tuareg-led rebels have taken control of a largely desert zone that cover the northern part of Mali, capitalising on chaos in the southern capital of Bamako after a March 22 coup. The move was backed by Islamists with ties to al-Qaeda, triggering fears of the emergence of a new rogue state.

"We support dialogue as a solution. Algeria will never accept the territorial integrity of Mali being thrown into question," Ouyahia said.