Algiers - Assailants killed 40 people overnight yesterday in the Medea region of Algeria, 50 miles south of the capital, a security services statement said. The butchery took place in the hamlet of Chouardia, in the neighbourhood of Sidi-Naamane, said the statement, which added that once alerted, the security services went "immediately" to the site.
The attack, coinciding with celebrations marking the start of the Muslim new year, was the bloodiest in a month.
In Rabat, the UN rights human rights commissioner, Mrs Mary Robinson called for UN envoys to be allowed to visit Algeria to investigate the human rights situation there. "It is necessary for special rapporteurs to visit or for mechanisms to be established to investigate the very serious human rights situation in Algeria," Mrs Robinson during a visit to Morocco. "Ordinary people are suffering greatly," she added.