World IN BRIEF : ALGERIA : Minister Unhurt in Car Bomb Attack

Defense Minister Khaled Nezzar, seen as the strongman in Algeria’s collective presidency, narrowly escaped assassination when a powerful car bomb exploded as he drove past. In another part of Algiers, a district police chief and three of his men were killed when five men blasted their police car with automatic weapon fire. The official APS news agency said the car bomb was meant for Nezzar, who was driving by. It said he was not hurt and quoted an official source saying there were no casualties. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack on Nezzar, who is the voice of the army in the country’s leadership, which has been fighting Muslim fundamentalists for more than a year. Less than 24 hours before the attacks, Algeria’s Justice Ministry announced that four Muslim fundamentalists had been executed after the Supreme Court rejected their appeals.