Video allegedly shows Algerian attack

(AP)
Updated: 2007-05-09 08:49

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Jazeera broadcast what it said was an al-Qaida video Tuesday purportedly showing one of the three suicide attacks in Algeria last month that killed 33 people.


Algerian policemen search a young man as they perform security checks in a district of Algiers, Thursday, April 12, 2007. [AP]
The brief video carried images of equipment and wires being assembled, followed by a large explosion.

The pan-Arab television network said the footage was from al-Qaida's branch for North Africa and that a longer segment would be aired later. The network provided no details on how or when it had obtained the footage and it wasn't immediately possible to determine its authenticity.

The video concluded with a bearded man said to be Abu Musab Abdulwadood - the leader of Algeria's main Islamic insurgency movement - calling on young Muslims to join his group and carry out suicide bombings.

"We carry the good news to our nation and our young people and tell them that the list of martyrs is long and is getting longer day after day," the speaker said. "Volunteers are competing to open this glorious combating door. Don't miss out on (joining the) entourage."

The group Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa claimed responsibility for three attacks on April 11 in Algiers which killed 33 people and wounded 57. Officials said the bombings targeted the prime minister's office and a police station.

The attacks were the deadliest in the Algiers region since 2002, and came as the North African nation struggles to come to terms with an insurgency that has killed up to 200,000 people since 1992 but has largely died down in recent years. The insurgency erupted after the army canceled elections that a Muslim fundamentalist party was set to win.



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