WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT:Massive car bomb hits U.N. building in Nigeria

Death toll mounts as apparent suicide bomber drives car up to the main reception of the building before detonating, inflicting the most damage possible. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/massive-car-bomb-hits-un-building-in-nigeria/2011/08/26/gIQAbhrwfJ_gallery.html#photo=1

Safety of UN Nigeria HQ in question after bombing

Nigeria, a country largely split between a Christian south and Muslim north

JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press – 1 day ago

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Two top U.N. officials offered conflicting views Sunday on the safety of its Nigeria headquarters after a suicide car bombing there, as the world body paused to mourn the 23 people killed in the attack claimed by a radical Muslim sect.
U.N. security chief Gregory Starr acknowledged that safety features “could have been better” to stop the speeding sedan loaded with explosives. But only hours later, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro told journalists that the building had “really, really tight” security.
Migiro earlier laid bouquets of red and white roses near a U.N. flag flying at half staff at the site of Friday’s attack, along with Nigeria’s foreign minister and the body’s acting local representative. She promised the U.N. would continue its work no matter what in Nigeria, an oil-rich country of 150 million people now violently divided by religion and ethnicity.
“We cannot allow ourselves to be intimidated by terrorism,” Migiro said.
A suicide bomber rammed through two sets of gates to reach the U.N. building’s glass reception hall. There, the bomber detonated explosives powerful enough to bring down parts of the concrete structure and blow out glass windows from other buildings in the quiet neighborhood filled with diplomatic posts.
While U.N. guards weren’t armed, Starr said the Nigerian government provided the compound armed security. It remains unclear how those forces responded, though Nigeria’s federal police are more known for asking for bribes and intimidating civilians than protecting the public.
The U.N. also had no specific intelligence or information about Boko Haram, the radical Muslim sect from Nigeria’s northeast that claimed responsibility for the attack.
“We had some general threats worldwide and some very mixed, general threat information about the environment” in Nigeria, Starr told The Associated Press. “But no, (we had) no advanced warning.”
The U.N. compound had a long driveway that allowed the suicide bomber to pick up speed, Starr acknowledged. The gates were not heavy, as Migiro shook them herself while touring the rubble-strewn grounds. The gates also did not have one-way traffic spikes nor any additional barriers to stop a speeding vehicle.

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