New York - The German Foreign Minister, Mr Klaus Kinkel, breaking a virtual silence in the UN General Assembly on massacres in Algeria, yesterday asked how long the international community could look away.
"The vileness of the latest carnage in Algeria would take some beating. It really does take your breath away," Mr Kinkel said.
He was referring to the almost daily slaughter of civilians, often involving the cutting of throats, mutilation or decapitation, in Algeria's five years of civil strife blamed on Muslim fundamentalist guerrillas.
Mr Kinkel continued: "How long can the international community look away. . we cannot accept a situation where we have completely innocent people be killed in a very cruel manner at night in the dark without the world community standing up and reacting." He was the first speaker to mention the ongoing slaughter in Algeria since the start on Monday of the General Assembly debate.