[ 2013-01-18 ]

The remote desert gas facility is not far from the Libyan border

Hostages siege at Algeria gas plant not over, UK says
The hostage crisis at a gas facility in the
Algerian desert where Islamist militants were
holding foreign hostages has yet to be resolved,
the UK says.

The Foreign Office said the "terrorist incident"
near In Amenas was "ongoing".

Algerian state media said four hostages and
several militants were killed when troops backed
by helicopters attempted to free them on Thursday
afternoon.

The militants had claimed to be holding 41
foreigners. At least four were freed but the fate
of many others is unknown.

Algeria has yet to give precise casualty figures
from the rescue attempt.

The state-run APS news agency cited local
officials as saying two Britons and two Filipinos
were killed. Two others, a Briton and an Algerian,
died on Wednesday when the militants ambushed a
bus that was taking foreign workers at the
facility to the local airport.

A spokesman for the militants told the Mauritanian
ANI news agency that 35 hostages and 15 militants
had been killed by helicopter gunfire in
Thursday's operation.

On Friday morning, the UK Foreign Office said it
believed the incident was ongoing, but the picture
is confusing, reports BBC security correspondent
Gordon Corera.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told
the BBC: "Parts of the plant are under Algerian
authorities' control, and other parts are not.
This information is changing by the hour."
The indications on Thursday night were that the
military element of the operation had concluded,
and that it had moved to the search phase

But there are now some unconfirmed reports that a
small group of militants and hostages remain,
possibly near the gas compressor at the main gas
plant, our correspondent adds.
It had always been reported that hostages were
being held at different locations.

UK government sources said they were trying to
establish the fate of as many as 20 British people
and were bracing themselves for multiple
casualties.

Japanese officials were meanwhile cited as saying
by the Kyodo news agency that at least 14 Japanese
nationals were still missing. At least three
managed to escape.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga,
expressed "deep regret" at the actions of the
Algerian security forces and its foreign ministry
summoned the Algerian ambassador.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said the
Algerian officials had said "they felt they had no
choice but to go in".

Norway said eight of its nationals were currently
unaccounted for. One is being treated at a
hospital in In Amenas, while four escaped
unharmed.

French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said two
French workers were safe. It was unclear if
another two were involved, he added.

The Irish government confirmed that one of its
citizens was free. Five Americans had survived and
left the country, US officials told ABC News.

APS said about 600 local workers had been freed in
the raid, but many of those were reportedly
allowed to leave on Wednesday by the militants.

The militants said they had seized the foreigners
in retaliation for France's military intervention
in Mali, where its forces have been battling
Islamists since last week.

Algerian Communications Minister Mohand Said
Oubelaid said the militants were intent on
"destabilising Algeria, embroiling it in the Mali
conflict and damaging its natural gas
infrastructure."

Algerian officials said the group was operating
under orders from Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a senior
commander of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
(AQIM) until late last year.

The In Amenas gas field is operated by the
Algerian state oil company, Sonatrach, along with
the British oil company BP and Norway's Statoil.

It is situated at Tigantourine, about 40km (25
miles) south-west of the town of In Amenas and
1,300km (800 miles) south-east of Algiers.

Source - BBC

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