09/10/2008
Poor security management, inadequate supervision and training and major lapses in judgment contributed to the 2007 terrorist bombing of the UN offices in Algiers in which 17 UN employees lost their lives, according to a UN report published on Wednesday (October 8th). The independent panel on accountability set up by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to look into the response to the terrorist attack determined that the UN system for grading security risks in Algeria had been "seriously compromised" through politicisation. The panel recommended administrative sanctions against six staff members and disciplinary proceedings against another four. A previous panel led by Algerian Lakhdar Brahimi had also identified flaws in UN security systems.