JAMES HATTORI, host:
From the studios of NPR West, this is DAY TO DAY. I'm James Hattori in for Alex Chadwick.
MADELEINE BRAND, host:
And I'm Madeleine Brand.
Coming up, the jazz pianist who sipped from the same teacup as a poisoned KGB agent.
HATTORI: First to Algeria, where two car bomb have killed dozens of people. One explosion occurred near the Supreme Constitutional Court in the capital of Algiers. It ripped through a bus packed with the university students that happened to be driving by. The second bomb went off minutes later at the United Nation's headquarters. Witnesses report seeing a white van driving to the offices, then explode.
On the phone from Algiers we have Said Chitour, a correspondent for the BBC.
Said, can you tell us, where were you when the bombs went off? What did you see and hear?
Mr. SAID CHITOUR (BBC): I was in Hydra, the area near the United - where the United Nation's building is. I went there and I saw the whole building completely collapse. And the street is full of cars, completely burned and damaged. With all the houses in the neighborhood, the villas - small villas near - next to the United Nation's building completely burned and people screaming and crying. Definitely the basement is full of blood. It was really, really chaotic, really a disaster.
HATTORI: Said, can you tell us, are they still searching for victims or possible survivors? Will it be a while before they know the final toll, do you think?
Mr. CHITOUR: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Because the fire brigades are working very hard now trying to dig into the building of the United Nations. A lot of people have been trapped inside the building. They try to find any survivors inside the building.
HATTORI: Were a number of the university students on the bus that was hit, were they among the victims, do you know?
Mr. CHITOUR: No, the bus - it's the other spot, because when it's happened, it's happened in two different spots - one in El-Biar, and the second spot is in the United Nation's office. The first spot is the -where the bus of the students been trapped into the traffic jam, and the kamikaze, in fact, blew up himself with his car next to the National Constitutional Council, which is next to Supreme Court of Algiers in area called El-Biar.
HATTORI: Is security still tight around the city, and is there any expectation that there'll be more attacks?
Mr. CHITOUR: Oh yes, oh yes. Definitely. There is a lot of checkpoints all around the city of Algiers in different areas. Especially the residential area of El-Biar and Hydra and all around, even in downtown. The minister of interior is calling now for more vigilance.
HATTORI: Has anyone claimed responsibility for the attacks yet?
Mr. CHITOUR: No, not yet. Up to the moment there is nobody who claim it.
HATTORI: What are the odds that this was connected to the radical Islamic movement in North Africa?
Mr. CHITOUR: There's a lot of suspicions and lot of connections to the style of al-Qaida in Islamic Maghreb. Every December - every 11th, according to the specialist here, according to the media, according to everyone here, they're saying (unintelligible) 11 we got the same attack. It was claimed by al-Qaida in Islamic Maghreb.
HATTORI: Said, it appears that the U.N. offices were targeted. Why do you think that was?
Mr. CHITOUR: Why they've chosen? Simply because they are the United Nations - because it's - it's - the area was always secure. They -nothing happened there since a long time, and this is United Nation to show up that they still exist - this group - radical Islamic group. They want to target the most significant buildings in order to show to the world that they still exist. They are there and they can be ready for a fight with the government.
HATTORI: And considering that there's been a string of attacks already this year, is there an expectation that there will be more in the future?
Mr. CHITOUR: Yes, definitely, because the minister of interior himself, Mr. Yazid Zerhouni, he gave the declaration today, this afternoon, by saying that we need more vigilance and we need to be more aware of that and we need to be very, very tight(ph) now.
HATTORI: Said Chitour of the BBC, thank you so much.
Mr. CHITOUR: Thank you. Have a good day, sir. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
