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Algiers Attacks Show Maturing of Al-Qaeda Unit
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The North African faction has direct connections to the media arm run by al-Qaeda's central leadership. About 12 hours after Tuesday's bombings in Algiers, a brief assertion of responsibility was posted on the al-Hisbah Islamic Network, a password-protected site that releases video announcements by bin Laden and his deputies.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]That statement and a more detailed assertion were posted later on the Algerian group's permanent Web site. It included photos of the two men who allegedly carried out the bombings.
One depicted a smiling, gray-haired man, identified as Ibrahim Abu Uthman, who by the site's account drove a truck loaded with 1,800 pounds of explosives into the office complex housing several U.N. agencies.
Nine U.N. staff members were killed, U.N. officials in New York said Wednesday, after mistakenly announcing the day before that 11 had died.
The attack was the worst on a U.N. target since the August 2003 bombing of the organization's headquarters in Baghdad. Twenty-three staff members were killed in that attack, prompting the United Nations to pull out of Iraq.
On Wednesday, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the world organization would not do the same in Algeria. "Our colleagues in Algiers would ask no less," he said.
The other bomber, identified by the al-Qaeda Web site as Abdul Rahman al-Asimi, blew up a van outside the Algerian Supreme Court about 10 minutes before the U.N. attack.
The combined death toll remained unclear.
The Algerian Interior Ministry said Wednesday that 31 people were killed and scores injured. Speaking on national television Tuesday night, Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem said the official figures represented "the real toll." He added: "We have nothing to hide, and every drop of Algerian blood counts for us."
But rescue workers and hospital officials in Algiers said the number was far higher. El Watan, a leading Algerian newspaper, reported that the bombings took 72 lives. The daily El Khabar, citing health officials, put the total at 67.
Special correspondent Munir Ladaa contributed to this report.
