Five U.N. staff still missing from Algeria blast
Pastor Dale Morgan
Five U.N. staff still missing from Algeria blast*
Reuters
Thursday, December 13, 2007; 3:55 PM
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Five U.N. staff were still missing after a
bombing in Algeria in which 11 other U.N. employees died, the world body
said on Thursday.
Al Qaeda's North African wing claimed responsibility for twin car bombs
on Tuesday that killed as many as 60 people at the U.N. offices and a
court building in Algiers, saying it had targeted what it called "the
slaves of America and France."
U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said the confirmed U.N. death toll so far
was 11, and five others were missing.
"The number of casualties could rise as efforts to recover bodies
continue," she said in New York.
U.N. Development Program Administrator Kemal Dervis was in Algiers on
Thursday to meet the wounded and the families of the dead and to discuss
security with the government.
Asked whether Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon would be visiting Algeria
himself, Okabe said the United Nations had lost its operational capacity
there as a result of the bomb.
"A visit under these circumstances, at this time, would be extremely
difficult," she said, adding that Ban had decided to stay longer than
planned in Bali for a climate change conference where he wants to push
ahead tough negotiations.
Ban promised on Wednesday to review security at U.N. sites around the
world and Okabe said that process had already started in Algeria.
At U.N. headquarters on the east side of Manhattan, New York city police
deployed more forces than usual on Thursday on the street in front of
the building, including a surveillance tower and more armed guards.
Okabe declined to comment on whether any specific threat had led to the
heightened security.
"Security (department) is constantly monitoring all information and it
takes appropriate measures," she said.
The United Nations briefly closed two of its entrances at the request of
police during the afternoon after a suspicious package was found, but it
was determined to be a false alarm.
(Reporting by Claudia Parsons; editing by Xavier Briand and Todd Eastham)