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Algeria bombings clouding hopes for peace

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published April 13, 2007

ALGIERS, Algeria - A day after a suicide bomber blasted the walls off the Algerian prime minister's office, workers in hard-hats were already cementing bricks into place to patch up the devastation.

That car bombing Wednesday and two other coordinated attacks at a suburban police station killed 33 people and dented hopes that Algeria may be closing the book on an Islamic insurgency that peaked in the 1990s.

Even after years of relative peace, some Algerians seemed resigned Thursday, even hardened, to the possibility of a return to violence.

Hamoud Ouachad, 33, passed the time Thurdsay by watching workers at the premier's office.

"We had forgotten what happened," he said, referring to the insurgency. "And now it's starting over. ... We want peace. We don't want this to become a daily occurrence."

In a nearby park, 60-year-old Merouane Fail, out strolling with his brother, said he was "sorry and shocked."

The attackers "are savages, barbarians," he said. Nearby, the sounds of shattering glass rang out as people punched out the remains of windows broken by the bombings.

Fifty-seven people remained hospitalized with injuries Thursday. Western countries reduced embassy services and urged their citizens to avoid traveling on predictable routes.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has devoted his presidency to ending the insurgency, held an emergency meeting with senior officials. Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem said May 17 legislative elections would go ahead.

Interior Minister Yazid Noureddine Zerhouni blamed the attacks on Abdelmalek Droukdal, leader of Algeria's al-Qaida wing. "Neutralizing him could take several weeks or several years," the minister said.

[Last modified April 13, 2007, 01:49:34]