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WORLD / Africa
Al Qaeda claims Algeria attacks in Web statement
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-09-09 16:10
DELLYS - Al Qaeda's north Africa wing said it was behind two suicide
attacks that killed at least 57 people in Algeria in the past two days,
according to a statement posted on the Internet on Saturday.
Algerian soldiers stand next to the rubble of a coastguard barracks in
Dellys September 8, 2007.[Reuters]??
It said the al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb was behind
Saturday's suicide truck bombing at a coast guard barracks east of
Algiers and an attack in the town of Batna less than 48 hours earlier. A
total of 57 people were killed in the two attacks.
The statement said President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was originally the
intended target of the bomb in Batna, 430 km (270 miles) southeast of
Algiers, but the bomber was forced detonate his device prematurely after
being discovered shortly before a scheduled visit by the Algerian leader.
The bomber blew himself up among a crowd waiting to see Bouteflika,
killing 20 people.
"We reiterate that the majority of those killed in this operation were
from the police and security forces ... and that our brother did not
target innocent people as reported by the media," said the statement,
posted on an Islamist Web site.
The statement, whose authenticity could not be verified, said two al
Qaeda fighters carried out the operations "in defence of Islam and the
Islamic nation" and it used a truck packed with 800 kg (1,800 lb) of
explosives in Saturday's bombing at the coast guard barracks in the port
of Dellys, 100 km (62 miles) east of Algiers.
The blast destroyed the barracks, killing 37 people, hospital sources
said. It was seen by the government as an attempt to wreck its efforts to
end 15 years of political violence.
"I heard a big blast at about eight this morning and I found out that it
targeted the port of the city," said resident Saeed Hamdaoui, 28. "Then
we heard ambulances."
EUROPE'S SOUTHERN FLANK
North African countries have stepped up security coordination to counter
armed groups seeking to establish Islamic rule in a region on Europe's
southern flank that depends to a large extent on oil and gas exports and
tourism.
Al Qaeda's No. 2 commander, Egyptian cleric Ayman al-Zawahri, referred to
north Africa in a broadcast in July and said the region's "corrupt"
governments should be removed.
Witnesses said the Dellys explosion wrecked the wooden barracks, damaged
several neighbouring houses and shattered windows in nearby streets.
Soldiers armed with automatic rifles sealed off the immediate vicinity
after the attack.
Authorities called on Algerians to stage rallies for peace throughout the
country, Africa's second biggest, on Sunday.
In New York, France's U.N. ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, current
Security Council president, recalled the 15-member body's sharp criticism
of the Batna attack.
"This condemnation must obviously be reiterated with strength, after the
new heinous terrorist attack committed today in Dellys," he said.
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