Union Leader Slain; Explosion Kills 15

The leader of the country’s largest labor union--a key presidential ally and an opponent of the Islamic insurgency--was killed along with a bodyguard and another union employee in central Algiers. Hours later, a bomb exploded in a marketplace in Blida, 30 miles south of the capital. The blast killed 15 people and injured at least 30, an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing or for the killings in Algiers, but slain union leader Abdelhak Benhamouda was an ally of President Liamine Zeroual and an outspoken critic of Islamic militants, whose five-year insurgency has left more than 60,000 dead.