Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Two suicide bombings rocked the Algerian capital, killing as many as 62 people in the nation's worst attack since Islamist massacres in the 1990s.

An al-Qaeda group claimed responsibility for the bombings in a statement published on an Islamist Web site, according to SITE, a U.S.-based group monitoring extremist Internet messages.

The first blast in Algiers occurred at 9:40 a.m. local time and struck the Constitutional Council building, killing as many as 50 people, most of them students, and injuring dozens of others, hospital officials said. Less than 10 minutes later, a car bomb detonated near United Nations offices in the Hydra district, where many foreign embassies are located. That explosion left 12 dead, according to the officials. The UN said 10 of its workers may have died and others are missing.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, previously known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, issued a communiqué to jihadist forums on the Internet claiming responsibility for the attacks, SITE, or Search for International Terrorist Entities, said by e-mail.

The al-Qaeda group published photographs of the two suicide bombers, identifying them as Ibrahim Abu Uthman and Abdul Rahman Abu Abdul Nasser Al-Aassemi, according to SITE. Their truck bombs contained more than 8000 kilograms of explosives, according to the statement.

Bin Laden

The group announced its loyalty to Osama bin Laden in January. The Maghreb is the Arabic name for the North African countries of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.

Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni gave a lower death toll, saying the bombs killed 22 people and wounded 176. He told reporters the attacks were carried out by the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat.

The attack by the Salafist group was a ``sign of weakness, because they have been defeated on the ground by security forces,'' Zerhouni said.

The White House condemned the ``horrible bombing'' of Algerian targets and the UN as ``senseless violence,'' according to a statement. President George W. Bush called the bombers ``enemies of humanity who attack the innocent.''

The Algerian government has been fighting Islamic militants since the early 1990s when the army annulled elections that the now-banned Islamic Salvation Front was poised to win. The cancellation set off a civil war that lasted 10 years in which about 200,000 people died.

Islamic Militants

Clashes between the secular government and Islamic militants reignited last year after an amnesty starting in 1999 drained support for the Islamists. Today's attacks bring to well over 100 the number of people killed in bombings this year.

The last major attack in central Algiers was April 11, when at least 30 people were killed by a car bomb near the prime minister's office. An Algerian-based al-Qaeda affiliate claimed responsibility for that attack.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the bombing ``in the strongest possible terms,'' according to a statement from Bali, Indonesia, where he is attending the global climate change talks.

A student bus belonging to a private company blew up while approaching the new building of the Constitutional Council near the Supreme Court in the high-security El Biar area, known as the Heights of Algiers, according to witnesses.

The second car bombing destroyed the office of the UN Development Program and ``severely damaged'' the refugee agency's office across the street, according to the world body.

Attack Condemned

The Arab League and the European Union were among organizations condemning the attacks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin deplored ``this dreadful crime'' and assured Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Russia's ``solidarity and support,'' according to a statement on the Kremlin Web site.

Bouteflika spoke by phone with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, King Juan Carlos of Spain, and Palestine Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the official Algerian news agency said.

At least 50 people were killed the first week of September in two attacks in provincial cities, the first a failed assassination attempt on Bouteflika and the second a suicide car bombing at a military barracks.

Nine people, including one Italian and two French workers for a construction company, were injured Sept. 21 when a suicide car bomber rammed their convoy.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ahmed Rouaba in Algiers through the London newsroom t ; Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 11, 2007 17:59 EST