UN leader visits bombed Algiers offices

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday toured the ruins of a building torn apart by a suicide bombing that killed 17 U.N. staffers last week, vowing that the world body would not be intimidated.

"All the United Nations agencies in Algeria are going to continue their work," Ban said after visiting the U.N. offices hit by one of two truck bombings in the capital on Dec. 11. At least 37 people were killed.

"We will not be intimidated by terror bombings," Ban told reporters. "Terrorism is not a phenomenon against a state or a specific region, it's a worldwide threat requiring global efforts and cooperation from the entire international community."

Ban said in an earlier interview with Algerian radio that the U.N. was committed to working with Algerian authorities to stop such attacks.

He met privately with the organization's staff in Algiers and also visited with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

A former insurgent group now calling itself al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa claimed responsibility for the attacks, which also hit a government building.

The attack was the worst against U.N. staff since an August 2003 bombing at U.N. headquarters in Baghdad killed its top envoy, in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and 21 others.