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December 12, 2007

UN Dispatches Investigators to Probe Algeria Bombings
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1A8DF0E:A6F02AD83191E16035A45572D77D2C0F70AD7039DCD7B7E4& Tuesday's blasts
killed scores of people, including at least 11 UN staff members





Ban Ki-moon (file photo)United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
has sent top aides to investigate Tuesday's bombing in the Algerian
capital that killed scores of people, including at least 11 U.N. staff
members.

In a statement issued in Bali, Indonesia, where he is currently
traveling, Mr. Ban strongly condemned the two bombings outside U.N.
offices and a government building in Algiers, saying words cannot
express his "sense of shock, outrage and anger" at the terrorist
attack.

Al-Qaida's North African wing has claimed responsibility for the car
bombs.

Algerian government officials say at least 26 people were killed and
177 others wounded. However, an Algerian newspaper, al-Watan, citing
medical sources put the death toll at 72.







Rescuers work at the site of a bomb blast near UN offices in Algiers,
11 Dec 2007The offices of the U.N. Development Program and the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees were damaged by the blasts.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and other European leaders have
condemned the bombings.

The White House called the blasts a case of "senseless violence" and
said they were carried out by "enemies of humanity who attacked the
innocent." The State Department says the United States stands with the
government of Algeria, and is ready to provide assistance.

Algerian militants linked to al-Qaida have carried out a series of
attacks in the country this year, including suicide bombings that
killed 33 people in Algiers in April.

Algerian Islamists rose up against the government in 1992 when it
scrapped elections that an Islamic party was poised to win.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP.


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