The death toll of the two bombs that exploded in Algiers on Tuesday rose to
37 people. The bombs went off near an UN refugee agency office and the Supreme
Court building, killing at least 17 UN employees.
On Friday the victims were buried and men in white robes
were praying while women wearing Muslin head scarves were crying their loved
ones, the Guardian Unlimited informs.
The search for survivors was finished and the rescue workers
turned to clean up.
The attack on Tuesday was claimed by a group affiliated with
al-Qaeda, calling itself al-Qaeda in Islamic North Africa. The bombs were ten
minutes apart and the victims included police officers, UN employees and law
students, the Associated Press reports.
Among the 17 UN employees who got killed, there was also
Mustapha Boubara. Before his funeral, dozens of Muslim worshippers turned out
for the prayers at a mosque.
On Thursday Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was
called by US President George W. Bush to present his condolences and talk about
the attacks.
Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, said:
“President Bush reiterated his commitment to continuing U.S. counterterrorism cooperation in North Africa in order to bring the perpetrators to
justice.”
Al-Qaeda in Islamic North Africa described the UN offices on
their site as "the headquarters of the international infidels' den."
U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said Friday that the UN
death toll was of 17.
The UN victims were 14 Algerians, a Dane, a Filipino and a
Senegalese.
According to an Algerian security official the members were
a 64-year-old man who had an advanced stage of cancer and a 34-year-old man
from a poor suburb. They were once detained by police, but freed due to an
amnesty by the government.
The older bomber was identified by the security officials as
Chebli Brahim, who had two sons killed in a crackdown on militants. He attacked
the UN offices.
The younger bomber was identified as being Charef Larbi,
from the poor Oued Ouchayeh suburb
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon issued a statement in
which he expressed his solidarity with the people of Algeria.
He said: ``I stand with the people of Algeria and the wider region in the
face of the scourge of terrorism. This was an attack not only against the
United Nations, not only against Algerians, but against humankind itself.''
