18/12/2007
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is expected in Algeria on Tuesday (December 18th) for a one-day visit. He will meet with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem to discuss how to protect international workers from terrorist threats. Seventeen UN employees died in the December 11th bombings in Algiers.
"We are committed to continue working in Algeria. But staff security is of the utmost importance to us and host governments around the world have to do their maximum to provide protection for our offices," said Kemal Dervis, head of UNDP, who visited the country just after the attacks.
Ban is also expected to meet with the families of the UN victims and the UN staff in Algiers. In a Tuesday press release, the UN announced that its staff would observe a worldwide minute of silence to honour the victims of the terrorist attacks.