Algeria Cancels Scheduled Visit by European Delegation

Algeria has called off a visit by European officials seeking ways to end worsening bloodshed in this North African nation because the delegation lacks seniority, the foreign minister said Wednesday.

In the latest violence, a bomb concealed in a folded prayer rug exploded Wednesday in a mosque outside Algiers, killing one person and injuring eight, witnesses and medical sources said. There was no claim of responsibility.

The government’s refusal to accept a visit by a European Union delegation echoed Algeria’s previous rejections of international aid or investigations into six years of violence that have killed more than 65,000 people.

The delegation, made up of officials from the foreign ministries of Britain, Austria and Luxembourg, was to visit Algeria for three days starting Friday.

But Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf said the diplomats, who sought Cabinet-level meetings in Algiers, held a “very modest level of responsibility.”

“There is an unacceptable imbalance,” Attaf told reporters. “The mission has lost its meaning.”

The rebuff came less than a week after Algeria agreed to accept a European Union mission.

Algeria traditionally has viewed any efforts to intervene in its domestic crises as affronts to its sovereignty. The Arab League, based in Cairo, supported that position Wednesday.

The U.S. State Department expressed regret over the Algerian decision.

The Algerian reversal came hours after British Foreign Minister Robin Cook said there was no proof that the Algerian government had played a part in massacres that have killed more than 1,000 people in the last two weeks.

Cook’s statement contrasted with reports that Algerian authorities have been lax in trying to prevent or curb the bloodshed.

Meanwhile, Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy said in a statement that Algeria has told special envoy Claude Laverdure that it would welcome a visit by Canadian legislators and journalists. Laverdure was sent to Algeria to investigate the recent massacres, offer assistance and encourage more transparency.

A Canadian government spokesman said it was too early to say whether a delegation will be sent.