Algiers market bomb carnage

A BOMB packed with nails hidden in a television set exploded near a market place in Algiers yesterday, killing least 17 people and injuring about 60. Hospital sources said the death toll could rise to 20.

The explosion ripped through a packed square in the neighbourhood of Bab-el-Oued, a stronghold of Muslim fundamentalists. At least 10 of the injured were hurt in a stampede after the blast. Two hours after the explosion, ambulance workers were still ferrying people to hospitals.

Islamic militants, in their seventh year of a battle against the military- backed government, are thought to be responsible. The conflict began after the army cancelled elections which the now-banned Islamic Salvation Front was poised to win.

The attack took place as President Liamine Zeroual was on a trip to several African countries. In Durban, South Africa, today, he plans to argue at the Nonaligned Summit on behalf of an international convention on fighting terrorism.

Earlier, the Government said it would open 48 offices nationwide today to help investigate the disappearance of Algerians during the insurgency.

Human rights groups claim that Algeria's army had a role in some of the thousands of reported disappearances in the past six years. An estimated 75,000 people, including Islamic militants, civilians and security forces, have been killed since 1992.

Authorities said the opening of the offices coincided with 554 new cases of missing people lodged with the Interior Ministry.

Although many of the disappeared are feared dead, Algeria's government- run National Observatory for Human Rights says some may have secretly fled the country or joined the insurgents.