World condemns 'cowardly' Algeria bombings

World leaders expressed outrage over twin car bombings that killed dozens of people in Algiers on Tuesday, with the White House labeling the attacks an act of "senseless violence".

One blast ripped the front off the office of the U.N. refugee agency, while the other exploded outside the Algerian Supreme Court, killing a number of college students in a passing bus.

Twenty-four people were killed in the two bomb attacks, Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem said on television after earlier reports that more than 60 had died.

"The official toll that we have given is the real toll. We have nothing to hide," he said, adding that two foreigners were among the dead without giving their nationalities.

Algerian Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni had earlier put the official death toll from the twin car bombings in the capital at 22, despite estimates from hospital sources that 62 people had been killed.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, who was in Bali, Indonesia, for a major climate change conference, condemned "in the strongest possible terms the terrorist attacks in Algiers", his office said in a statement.

He ordered an immediate review of U.N. security measures. A U.N. spokeswoman in New York said several of the organization's staffers were among those killed.

The U.N. Security Council also adopted a non-binding statement condemning "in the strongest terms this heinous act of terrorism" and stressing the need to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The head of the U.N. refugee agency, Antonio Guterres, told BBC News that he had "no doubt" the U.N. was deliberately targeted.

The White House said in a statement that the "president and Mrs. Bush extend their condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this horrible bombing".

"We condemn this attack on the United Nations office by these enemies of humanity who attack the innocent. The United States stands with the people of Algeria, as well as the United Nations as they deal with this senseless violence."

One of the first to denounce the attacks was French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who paid a state visit last week to Algeria, a former French colony.

In a phone call to the Algerian president, Sarkozy "firmly condemned what he described as barbaric, hateful and deeply cowardly acts", said presidential spokesman David Martinon.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also condemned the bombings and offered Russia's help in fighting terrorism.

"In condemning this abominable crime, I want to express to you our solidarity and our support," he wrote in a message addressed to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

No claim of responsibility

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings. Zerhouni, however, accused al-Qaeda in North Africa of carrying out the attacks.

A series of similar attacks that have killed more than 100 people in Algeria since the beginning of the year have all been claimed by a regional Al-Qaeda offshoot.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said she was appalled by "these heinous acts against civilians" while Portugal, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, condemned such "barbaric acts of terrorism".

The Syrian foreign ministry voiced "big shock and great pain" at what it described as "such a cowardly terrorist act".

"Such inexcusable terrorist acts will only strengthen the
Algerian people and their leadership's determination to continue the process of building and progress," it said in a statement.

Neighboring countries strongly condemned the attacks, including King Mohammed VI of Morocco and Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, as did the prime ministers of Spain and Italy.

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said such "mindless and cowardly violence" struck at the heart of civil society.

Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, once condemned by the West as a chief sponsor of global terrorism, offered his condolences in a phone call to the Algerian president from France, where he is currently on an official visit.

South Africa's government issued a statement expressing its "unequivocal condemnation of all forms of violence directed against civilians to promote political objectives".