Algeria says tightened U.S. flight checks unfair

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria said on Monday a U.S. decision to subject its citizens to extra airport security checks was unjustified and discriminatory.

The rules require extra security screening for U.S.-bound travelers from over a dozen states including Algeria, Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria.

They were introduced after an alleged botched bombing attempt against a Northwest Airlines flight into Detroit on Christmas Day by a Nigerian citizen.

"Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci summoned the United States ambassador in Algiers to convey the Algerian government's strong protest against this unfortunate, unjustified and discriminatory measure," the ministry said in a statement carried by official news agency APS.

Algeria's government has spent 17 years fighting an Islamist insurgency and cooperates closely with the United States on anti-terrorism policy.

Its security forces are fighting rebels based in mountains east of Algiers who joined Al Qaeda in 2007 and vowed to export a campaign of bombings, ambushes and kidnappings across north Africa.

The tighter controls apply to people traveling from or through nations listed by the U.S. as "state sponsors of terrorism" -- Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria -- as well as Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen.

Nigeria has said its inclusion on the list could threaten its relations with Washington. Communist-led Cuba has also demanded its removal from the list.

(Writing by Tom Pfeiffer)