Ex-Government Official Gunned Down In Algeria

A former interior minister was shot and killed Thursday in an attack by unidentified gunmen in downtown Algiers, security forces said.

Elsewhere, bomb attacks targeted trains and government buildings in the latest spasm of violence between the government and Islamic opponents, which began in 1992 when the regime canceled elections an Islamic party was poised to win and began jailing its members.

The latest attacks are apparently part of a destabilization campaign by rebels ahead of the Nov. 16 first round of presidential balloting.

Algeria’s leading parties - including the once-ruling National Liberation Front - are boycotting the election.