What is scandalous to them is the truth to millions who are afraid to speak out. I am not afraid to speak out and not afraid of the well oiled machine of both Party's and will not misdirect District 17 in Pennsylvania. I will not apologies to anyone for exposing the crime and corruption on the Hill.
What has happened to Americans in Algeria is the same situation as in Bengaizai Lybia.. This is a disgrace and a direct insult to the Citizens of the United States and yet their friends and buddies see no wrong in killing Americans since it is not their families and like any good dictatorship they can loose lives it's " in sequential" to Obama and to this congress. Only time Our Elective Officials ) do anything is when people wake up and question what has been told to them but still they do not carry the task through.
There is a order of Contempt for Holder and no action was taken. Why? Too busy winning an re-election . By saying look what I did 3 months before an election My question is what have you done in the past 2 -20 years to stop corruption other then silence the newbies?
Below is the article of 80 people who are under seize because of the lack of care from your elected officials.
I am running for Congress 17th district in Central Pennsylvania to work for you. You are my bosses. I answer to you. My door when I am in the office will always be open for those who need to see me. I will work for you not for a party. 2014 is right around the corner. Join me in making Pennsylvania the Keystone State.
Contact Keith Healey keithhealey1950@gmail.com. to volunteer. We need Volunteers to go door to door to collect signatures to place Leah's name on the ballet in District 17. If you live in District 17 Please email me at keithhealey1950@gmail.com. Majority of the volunteers will become Leah's staff here in Pa and in DC.
60 hostages dead, missing in Algeria standoff
By KARIM KABIR and PAUL SCHEMM The Associated Press
Friday, January 18, 2013 9:20 AM EST
ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — About 60 foreign hostages are still unaccounted for three days into a bloody siege with Islamic militants at a gas plant deep in the Sahara, Algeria's state news service said Friday.
The militants, meanwhile, offered to trade two American hostages for terror figures jailed in the United States, according to a statement received by a Mauritanian news site that often reports news from North African extremists.
It was the latest surprising development in a hostage drama that began Wednesday when militants seized hundreds of workers from 10 nations at Algeria's remote Ain Amenas natural gas plant. Algerian forces retaliated Thursday by storming the plant in an attempted rescue operation that killed at least four hostages and left leaders around the world expressing strong concerns about the hostages' safety.
Algerian special forces resumed negotiating Friday with the militants holed up in the refinery, according to the Algerian news service, which cited a security source.
The report said "more than half of the 132 hostages" had been freed in the first two days, but it could not account for the remainder, saying some could be hidden throughout the sprawling desert site.
Militants on Friday offered to trade two American hostages for two prominent terror figures jailed in the United States: the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a Pakistani scientist convicted of shooting at two U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
The offer, according to a Mauritanian news site that frequently broadcasts dispatches from groups linked to al-Qaida, came from Moktar Belmoktar, an extremist commander based in Mali who apparently masterminded the operation.
Algeria's government has kept a tight grip on information, but it was clear that the militant assault that began Wednesday with an attempted bus hijacking has killed at least six people from the plant — and perhaps many more.
Workers kidnapped by the militants came from around the world — Americans, Britons, French, Norwegians, Romanians, Malaysians, Japanese, Algerians. Leaders on Friday expressed strong concerns about how Algeria was handing the situation and its apparent reluctance to communicate.
British Prime Minister David Cameron went before the House of Commons on Friday to provide an update, seeming frustrated that Britain was not told about the military operation despite having "urged we be consulted."
Terrorized hostages from Ireland and Norway trickled out of the Ain Amenas plant, 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) south of Algiers, the capital. BP, which jointly operates the plant, said it had begun to evacuate employees from Algeria.
"This is a large and complex site and they are still pursuing terrorists and possibly some of the hostages," Cameron said. He told lawmakers the situation remained fluid and dangerous, saying "part of the threat has been eliminated in one part of the site, a threat still remains in another part."
Algeria's army-dominated government, hardened by decades of fighting Islamist militants, shrugged aside foreign offers of help and drove ahead alone.
The U.S. government sent an unarmed surveillance drone to the BP-operated site, near the border with Libya, but it could do little more than watch Thursday's military intervention. British intelligence and security officials were on the ground in Algeria's capital but were not at the installation, said a British official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
A U.S. official said while some Americans escaped, other Americans were either still held or unaccounted for.
El Mokhtar Ould Sidi, editor of the Mauritanian news site ANI, said several calls on Thursday came from the kidnappers themselves giving their demands and describing the situation.
"They were clearly in a situation of war, the spokesman who contacted us was giving orders to his colleagues and you could hear the sounds of war in the background.... He threatened to kill all the hostages if the Algerian forces tried to liberate them," he said.
With the hostage drama entering its second day Thursday, Algerian security forces moved in, first with helicopter fire and then special forces, according to diplomats, a website close to the militants, and an Algerian security official. The government said it was forced to intervene because the militants were being stubborn and wanted to flee with the hostages.
Militants claimed 35 hostages died when the military helicopters opened fire as they were transporting hostages from the living quarters to the main factory area where other workers were being held.
The group — led by a Mali-based al-Qaida offshoot known as the Masked Brigade — suffered losses in Thursday's military assault — but garnered a global audience.
The militants made it clear that their attack was in revenge for the French intervention against Islamists who have taken over large parts of neighboring Mali. France has encountered fierce resistance from the extremist groups in Mali and failed to persuade many Western allies to join in the actual combat.
Even violence-scarred Algerians were stunned by the brazen hostage-taking Wednesday, the biggest in northern Africa in years and the first to include Americans as targets. Mass fighting in the 1990s had largely spared the lucrative oil and gas industry that gives Algeria its economic independence and regional weight.
The official Algerian news agency said four hostages were killed in Thursday's operation, two Britons and two Filipinos. Two others, a Briton and an Algerian, died Wednesday in the initial militant ambush on a bus ferrying foreign workers to an airport. Citing hospital officials, it said six Algerians and seven foreigners were injured.
APS said some 600 local workers were safely freed in the raid — but many of those were reportedly released the day before by the militants themselves.
One Irish hostage managed to escape: electrician Stephen McFaul, who'd worked in North Africa's oil and natural gas fields off and on for 15 years. His family said the militants let hostages call their families to press the kidnappers' demands.
"He phoned me at 9 o'clock to say al-Qaida were holding him, kidnapped, and to contact the Irish government, for they wanted publicity. Nightmare, so it was. Never want to do it again. He'll not be back! He'll take a job here in Belfast like the rest of us," said his mother, Marie.
Dylan, McFaul's 13-year-old son, started crying as he talked to Ulster Television. "I feel over the moon, just really excited. I just can't wait for him to get home," he said.
————
Schemm reported from Rabat, Morocco. Associated Press writers Bradley Klapper, Lolita Baldor and Robert Burns in Washington, Lori Hinnant in Paris, Shawn Pogatchnik in Dublin, Bjoern H. Amland in Oslo, Norway, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Cassandra Vinograd, Paisley Dodds and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report
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Islamist militants have today offered to free two American hostages held captive at an Algerian gas field in exchange for the release of two renowned terrorists jailed in the United States.
The attempt to negotiate comes after a US citizen and up to 12 Britons, who were kidnapped with dozens of other foreign oil workers on Wednesday, were killed in a botched rescue mission by Algerian forces.
The outrageous offer is likely to fall flat in Washington as the Obama administration routinely refuses to give in to the demands of terrorists.
Algeria's state news service reported at around 11 a.m. EST that nearly 100 of the 132 foreign workers kidnapped had now been freed.
The service earlier reported that as many as 60 hostages remained unaccounted for as the bloody siege entered its third day. The new information, however, still meant the fate of over 30 foreign energy workers was unclear.
Yesterday's air raid, which was carried out by Algerian helicopters and special forces without the prior knowledge of the US government, was meant to wipe out the al-Qaeda-linked militants and free the dozens of foreigners from at least 10 countries who were being held, but instead left scores of people dead, injured or missing.
Militants said seven Americans had been taken hostage and it was reported that two of them escaped unharmed yesterday.
Kidnappers said today that they want to swap two Americans still in captivity for prominent terror figures who are in jail in the US, according to the Mauritanian news agency ANI. The report said the militants plan to release a video outlining the offer.
One of the two terrorists the captors want freed is Omar Abdel Rahman, who was convicted of plotting to blow up New York City landmarks and masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Often referred to as 'The Blind Sheikh', Abdel Rahman, 74, is currently serving a life sentence at the Butner Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina.
They are also demanding the release of Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year term in the US for the attempted murder of FBI and US military officials who she shot at in Afghanistan. The 40-year-old missed and the men survived.
The offer, according to ANI, which frequently broadcasts dispatches from groups linked to al-Qaida, came from Moktar Belmoktar, an extremist commander based in Mali who apparently masterminded Wednesday's attack.
Five other Americans who had been at the vast Ain Amenas complex were able to avoid being taken captive when the terrorists first attacked early on Wednesday. Neither the Obama administration nor the British government was aware of the Algerian military's raid ahead of time.
Algeria's news service said special forces had resumed negotiations with militants today as foreign leaders scrambled to find out the fates of their citizens.
According to Reuters, the kidnappers were also threatening to attack other energy installations after the bloody raid.
The American who was killed in the raid is from Texas although his or her name has not been released nor any other details.
A U.S. C-130 military aircraft is evacuating between 10 and 20 people caught up in the hostage-taking, a U.S. defense official told CNN on Friday. They will be flown to U.S. facilities in Europe, the official said, and the condition of those who are injured will be assessed on the flight.
'We just don't know what kind of injuries they have,' he said.
A total of 18 militants were killed and the plant's living quarters were secured, according to the Algerian government news agency, which cited security officials.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was briefed early on Friday, a senior defense official told The Associated Press, but offered no other details because 'we view it as a sensitive, ongoing situation.'
Mr Panetta said in London that there was 'no justification for the kidnapping and murder of innocent people' in Algeria, and vowed the US government was 'working around the clock to ensure the safe return of our citizens.'
He warned terrorists in Algeria that there was 'no place to hide' and said that American authorities were working closely with Britain and other nations 'to assess precisely what was happening on the ground.'
He added that 'regardless of the motivation of hostage takers there was no justification for the kidnap and murder of innocent people going about their daily lives.'
'Terrorists should be on notice that they will find no sanctuary or refuge; not in Algeria, not in North Africa, not anywhere. Those who will want only to attack will have no place to hide,' he said.
Instead of freeing the dozens of hostages, the raid resulted in bloody chaos at the isolated plant 800 miles south of the capital, Algiers, leaving the fate of many of the captives and the fighters uncertain. In launching its assault, Algeria also ignored offers of help from the SAS and American special forces.
'
We asked them not to go in with all guns blazing and they just did it anyway,' said one London official. 'They insisted this was their sovereign territory and it was their operation.'
French sources said the decision to go in was taken because the terrorists were executing hostages. Last night, after a fierce day of fighting, Algerian officials said the rescue operation was over. They said Tahar Ben Cheneb, a prominent commander in the region, was among the dead militants.
The 11 bodies of gunmen found on Thursday comprised three Egyptians, two Tunisians, two Libyans, a Malian and a Frenchman and all were assumed to have been hostage-takers, a security source told Reuters. Algeria state news agency APS said the group had planned to take the hostages to Mali.
On Friday, the source said 18 militants had now been found dead.
A source said yesterday that 30 hostages were killed, of whom the nationalities of 15 had been established. Of these, eight were Algerian and seven were foreigners, including two British, two Japanese and a French national. One Briton was killed when the terrorists seized the gas compound on Wednesday. The number of foreigners unaccounted for and feared dead is now at 60.
An Irish engineer who survived said he saw four jeeps full of hostages blown up by Algerian troops whose commanders said they moved in about 30 hours after the siege began because the gunmen had demanded to be allowed to take their captives abroad.
A French hostage employed by a French catering company said Algerian military forces had found some British hostages hiding in a roof space and were combing the sprawling In Amenas site for others when he was escorted away by the military.
'I hid in my room for nearly 40 hours, under the bed. I put boards up pretty much all round,' Alexandre Berceaux told Europe 1. 'I didn't know how long I was going to stay there ... I was afraid. I could see myself already ending up in a pine box.'
The Japanese government said on Friday that three of its citizens escaped but 14 were still unaccounted for and their fate was unclear.
BP said there was a 'small number of BP employees' at the facility 'whose current location and situation remain uncertain.' It added that 11 employees and hundreds of staff at other oil companies were flown out of the area yesterday and also described the situation as 'ongoing.'
Fierce gun battles erupted at midday on Thursday as troops moved in on the Islamists and there were claims that hostages had been used as human shields. An eyewitness described a scene of carnage, saying: 'There were bodies all over the ground.' Another spoke of Algerian forces firing at 'anything that moved'.
The Obama administration appeared to be in the dark on Thursday about the hostage situation at the natural gas plant deep in the Sahara Desert. An administrative official told the Associated Press that the U.S. was not aware of the raid to free the hostages in advance.
The administration was offering no details about how many American hostages had been taken and whether they were still in captivity – or even alive. A source told the AP that while some U.S. citizens escaped, others remained missing or unaccounted for.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said U.S. counterterrorism officials were in touch with their Algerian counterparts and that she planned to speak on Thursday with Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal for the second time in as many days. She made a vague reference to ongoing U.S. 'planning,' without elaborating.
'The security of our Americans who are held hostage is our highest priority,' Clinton told reporters. 'Because of the fluidity and the fact that there is a lot of planning going on, I cannot give you any further details.
'This is a serious and sensitive situation,' Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters traveling with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in England. Little said military officials were actively seeking information, and that Panetta had been briefed by senior military officials.
Ahead of the raid, U.S. officials had been urging the Algerians to be cautious in their actions, but did not know a rescue mission was planned, said the administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Militants earlier said they were holding seven Americans, but the administration confirmed only that Americans were among those taken.
'We are deeply concerned about any loss of innocent life and are seeking clarity from the government of Algeria,' White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters.
During her conversation with Algeria's prime minister on Wednesday, Clinton expressed Washington's 'willingness to be helpful,' State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. They also discussed what type of assistance might be needed, Nuland added, but declined to provide details.
A local worker said from his home on Thursday that the Islamist gunmen of the ‘Battalion of Blood’ told the terrified staff that they would not harm Muslims but would kill 'Christians and infidels.'
Algerian security specialist Anis Rahmani told Reuters about 70 militants were involved from two groups, Belmokhtar's 'Those who sign in blood,' who travelled from Libya, and the lesser known 'Movement of the Islamic Youth in the South.'
One of the two terrorists the captors want freed from a US prison is Omar Abdel Rahman.
The 74-year-old was convicted of plotting to blow up New York City landmarks and masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Often referred to as 'The Blind Sheikh', Abdel Rahman is currently serving a life sentence at the Butner Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina.
'They were carrying heavy weapons including rifles used by the Libyan army during (Muammar) Gadaffi's rule,' he said. 'They also had rocket-propelled grenades and machineguns.'
Last night, as the military operation to rescue those captured continued, a local worker revealed how the militants appeared to have a clear strategy for their prisoners – some of whom even ended up having explosives strapped to their chest.
'The terrorists told us at the very start that they would not hurt Muslims but were only interested in the Christians and infidels,' Abdelkader, 53, told the Mail from his home in the nearby town of In Amenas. '"We will kill them," they said.'
The U.S. government sent an unmanned surveillance drone to the BP-operated site, near the border with Libya and 800 miles (1,290 kilometers) from the Algerian capital, but it could do little more than watch Thursday's intervention.
Algeria's army-dominated government, hardened by decades of fighting Islamist militants, shrugged aside foreign offers of help and drove ahead alone.
With the hostage drama entering its second day Thursday, Algerian security forces moved in, first with helicopter fire and then special forces, according to diplomats, a website close to the militants, and an Algerian security official.
The government said it was forced to intervene because the militants were being stubborn and wanted to flee with the hostages.
The militants — led by a Mali-based al-Qaida offshoot known as the Masked Brigade — suffered losses in Thursday's military assault, but succeeded in garnering a global audience.
Even violence-scarred Algerians were stunned by the brazen hostage-taking Wednesday, the biggest in northern Africa in years and the first to include Americans as targets. Mass fighting in the 1990s had largely spared the lucrative oil and gas industry that gives Algeria its economic independence and regional weight.
The hostage-taking raised questions about security for sites run by multinationals that are dotted across Africa's largest country.
It also raised the prospect of similar attacks on other countries allied against the extremist warlords and drug traffickers who rule a vast patch of desert across several countries in northwest Africa.
Even the heavy-handed Algerian response may not deter groups looking for martyrdom and attention.
Casualty figures in the Algerian standoff varied widely. The remote location is extremely hard to reach and was surrounded by Algerian security forces — who, like the militants, are inclined to advertise their successes and minimize their failures.
'An important number of hostages were freed and an important number of terrorists were eliminated, and we regret the few dead and wounded,' Algeria's communications minister, Mohand Said Oubelaid, told national media, adding that the 'terrorists are multinational,' coming from several different countries with the goal of 'destabilizing Algeria, embroiling it in the Mali conflict and damaging its natural gas infrastructure.'
The official news agency said four hostages were killed in Thursday's operation, two Britons and two Filipinos.
Two others, a Briton and an Algerian, died Wednesday in an ambush on a bus ferrying foreign workers to an airport. Citing hospital officials, the APS news agency said six Algerians and seven foreigners were injured.
APS said some 600 local workers were safely freed in the raid — but many of those were reportedly released the day before by the militants themselves.
The militants are also demanding the release of Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui.
She is serving an 86-year term in the US for the attempted murder of FBI and US military officials who she shot at in Afghanistan during her 2008 detention.
The 40-year-old missed and the men survived. She was convicted in 2010.
The militants, via a Mauritanian news website, claimed that 35 hostages and 15 militants died in the helicopter strafing. A spokesman for the Masked Brigade told the Nouakchott Information Agency in Mauritania that only seven hostages survived.
By nightfall, Algeria's government said the raid was over. But the whereabouts of the rest of the plant workers was unclear.
President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke on the phone to share their confusion. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the Obama administration was 'seeking clarity from the government of Algeria.'
An unarmed American surveillance drone soared overhead as the Algerian forces closed in, U.S. officials said.
The U.S. offered military assistance Wednesday to help rescue the hostages but the Algerian government refused, a U.S. official said in Washington.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the offer.
Militants earlier said they were holding seven Americans, but the administration confirmed only that Americans were among those taken. The U.S. government was in contact with American businesses across North Africa and the Middle East to help them guard against the possibility of copycat attacks
BP, the Norwegian company Statoil and the Algerian state oil company Sonatrach, operate the gas field and a Japanese company, JGC Corp, provides services for the facility.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe protested the military raid as an act that 'threatened the lives of the hostages,' according to a spokesman.
Jean-Christophe Gray, a spokesman for Cameron, said Britain was not informed in advance of the raid.
Diplomats privately described the fiasco as the most serious hostage crisis since Iran seized 52 American officials in 1979.
Norway's prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, summed up the anger and frustration felt by Western governments and said too he had been in constant contact with Mr Sellal.
'My message was that concern for the lives and health of the hostages had to go first,' he said. 'That was also the attitude of David Cameron. Our desire was that they showed restraint.
'We all feel deep anxiety of not knowing what has happened to our citizens and the other hostages. I feel for the families. What has happened is abominable.'
The militant group believed to be holding the hostages has claimed that it carried out the attack in retaliation for the French military intervention against Al Qaeda-backed rebels in neighbouring Mali.
From the very start of the dawn raid, they were interested only in killing 'Christians and infidels'.
When the Islamist gunmen of the 'Battalion of Blood' stormed the gas plant in the Sahara desert, they used the chilling language of radical Islam, telling terrified staff they would not harm Muslims but would kill Western hostages.
Last night, as the military operation to rescue those captured ended, a local worker revealed how the militants appeared to have a clear strategy for their prisoners – some of whom even ended up having explosives strapped to their chest.
'The terrorists told us at the very start that they would not hurt Muslims but were only interested in the Christians and infidels,' Abdelkader, 53, said from his home in the nearby town of In Amenas. '"We will kill them," they said.'
He feared many of his foreign colleagues may have died, saying: 'I'm a lucky man. I am still choked, and stressed.' And he added: 'The terrorists seemed to know the base very well, moving around, showing that they knew where they were going.'
The kidnappers said they were retaliating for last week's French offensive in neighbouring Mali, and demanded that Paris call off the operation and that Algeria withdraw co-operation.
Security experts, however, said the raid appeared to have been planned well in advance – although the decision to launch it now may well have been influenced by events in Mali.
Last night confusion surrounded the exact number killed when two Algerian helicopters opened fire on vehicles within the compound where more than 40 international workers were being held.
There were reports of continued fighting at two sites – one in the refinery and one in the living quarters – where hostages were still being held, before a local news agency said the operation had finished.
Why did militants seize the BP gas plant?
The group, named the Masked Brigade, claim the assault was in revenge for France's attacks on al-Qaeda rebels who have taken control of areas in neighbouring Mali, a former French colony
Why target Algeria?
Algeria has been an ally of the U.S. and France in fighting terrorism for years.
A spokesman said it was in retaliation for Algeria allowing France to use its airspace to carry out raids on northern Mali.
A statement from the group said: 'We hold the Algerian government and the French government and the countries of the hostages fully responsible if our demands are not met and it is up to them to stop the brutal aggression against our people in Mali.'
Algeria had long warned against military intervention against the rebels in northern Mali, fearing the violence could spill over its own long and porous border.
Do extremists have a stronghold in Algeria?
Algeria's strong security forces have struggled for years against Islamist extremists and have in recent years managed to nearly snuff out violence by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb around its home base in northern Algeria. In the meantime, AQIM moved its focus southward.
AQIM has made tens of millions of dollars off kidnapping in the region, abducting Algerian businessmen or political figures for ransom and sometimes foreigners.
But the In Amenas attack was the first of its kind in Algeria since 32 European tourists were kidhapped by the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, later renamed Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), in February 2003.
What's the current situation in Mali?
Fighting has raged in one town, airstrikes have hit another and army troops raced to protect a third on the seventh day of the French-led military intervention.
Banamba, a town located only 90 miles (144 kilometers) from Mali's capital was put on alert overnight and a contingent of roughly 100 Malian soldiers sped there on Thursday after a reported sighting of jihadists in the vicinity, marking the closest that the extremists have come to Mali's largest city and seat of government
Two of the Britons were among four international hostages and hundreds of Algerian workers rescued by forces, who are said to have killed up to 14 of the members of the so-called 'Blood Battalion'. Up to 25 foreign workers are believed to have escaped during the chaos and confusion, including Americans, Belgians, French and Japanese.
It was unclear whether the leader of the kidnappers, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a veteran Islamist guerrilla who set up his own group in the Sahara after falling out with other local Al Qaeda leaders, was among those killed.
A holy warrior-cum-smuggler dubbed 'The Uncatchable' by French intelligence and 'Mr Marlboro' by some locals for his illicit cigarette-running business, Belmokhtar's links to those who seized towns across northern Mali last year are unclear.
The hostage-takers earlier allowed some prisoners to speak to the media, apparently to put pressure on Algerian forces not to storm the compound.
An unidentified hostage who spoke to France 24 television said prisoners were forced to wear explosive belts and captors had threatened to blow up the plant.
Two hostages, identified as British and Irish, spoke to Al Jazeera television and called on the Algerian army to withdraw to avoid casualties.
'We are receiving care and good treatment from the kidnappers. The (Algerian) army did not withdraw and they are firing at the camp,' the British man said. 'There are around 150 Algerian hostages. We say to everybody that negotiation is a sign of strength and will spare many any loss of life.'
But within an hour of those calls, Algerian forces, who steadfastly refuse to negotiate with kidnappers, had moved in after surrounding the complex.
The insurgents had vowed revenge for the French military operation in Mali – Britain has lent transport planes and promised help with training Malian forces – and there are fears France's actions could prompt further attacks on Western targets in Africa.
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The militants, meanwhile, offered to trade two American hostages for terror figures jailed in the United States, according to a statement received by a Mauritanian news site that often reports news from North African extremists.
It was the latest surprising development in a hostage drama that began Wednesday when militants seized hundreds of workers from 10 nations at Algeria's remote Ain Amenas natural gas plant. Algerian forces retaliated Thursday by storming the plant in an attempted rescue operation that killed at least four hostages and left leaders around the world expressing strong concerns about the hostages' safety.
Algerian special forces resumed negotiating Friday with the militants holed up in the refinery, according to the Algerian news service, which cited a security source.
The report said "more than half of the 132 hostages" had been freed in the first two days, but it could not account for the remainder, saying some could be hidden throughout the sprawling desert site.
Militants on Friday offered to trade two American hostages for two prominent terror figures jailed in the United States: the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a Pakistani scientist convicted of shooting at two U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
The offer, according to a Mauritanian news site that frequently broadcasts dispatches from groups linked to al-Qaida, came from Moktar Belmoktar, an extremist commander based in Mali who apparently masterminded the operation.
Algeria's government has kept a tight grip on information, but it was clear that the militant assault that began Wednesday with an attempted bus hijacking has killed at least six people from the plant — and perhaps many more.
Workers kidnapped by the militants came from around the world — Americans, Britons, French, Norwegians, Romanians, Malaysians, Japanese, Algerians. Leaders on Friday expressed strong concerns about how Algeria was handing the situation and its apparent reluctance to communicate.
British Prime Minister David Cameron went before the House of Commons on Friday to provide an update, seeming frustrated that Britain was not told about the military operation despite having "urged we be consulted."
Terrorized hostages from Ireland and Norway trickled out of the Ain Amenas plant, 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) south of Algiers, the capital. BP, which jointly operates the plant, said it had begun to evacuate employees from Algeria.
"This is a large and complex site and they are still pursuing terrorists and possibly some of the hostages," Cameron said. He told lawmakers the situation remained fluid and dangerous, saying "part of the threat has been eliminated in one part of the site, a threat still remains in another part."
Algeria's army-dominated government, hardened by decades of fighting Islamist militants, shrugged aside foreign offers of help and drove ahead alone.
The U.S. government sent an unarmed surveillance drone to the BP-operated site, near the border with Libya, but it could do little more than watch Thursday's military intervention. British intelligence and security officials were on the ground in Algeria's capital but were not at the installation, said a British official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
A U.S. official said while some Americans escaped, other Americans were either still held or unaccounted for.
El Mokhtar Ould Sidi, editor of the Mauritanian news site ANI, said several calls on Thursday came from the kidnappers themselves giving their demands and describing the situation.
"They were clearly in a situation of war, the spokesman who contacted us was giving orders to his colleagues and you could hear the sounds of war in the background.... He threatened to kill all the hostages if the Algerian forces tried to liberate them," he said.
With the hostage drama entering its second day Thursday, Algerian security forces moved in, first with helicopter fire and then special forces, according to diplomats, a website close to the militants, and an Algerian security official. The government said it was forced to intervene because the militants were being stubborn and wanted to flee with the hostages.
Militants claimed 35 hostages died when the military helicopters opened fire as they were transporting hostages from the living quarters to the main factory area where other workers were being held.
The group — led by a Mali-based al-Qaida offshoot known as the Masked Brigade — suffered losses in Thursday's military assault — but garnered a global audience.
The militants made it clear that their attack was in revenge for the French intervention against Islamists who have taken over large parts of neighboring Mali. France has encountered fierce resistance from the extremist groups in Mali and failed to persuade many Western allies to join in the actual combat.
Even violence-scarred Algerians were stunned by the brazen hostage-taking Wednesday, the biggest in northern Africa in years and the first to include Americans as targets. Mass fighting in the 1990s had largely spared the lucrative oil and gas industry that gives Algeria its economic independence and regional weight.
The official Algerian news agency said four hostages were killed in Thursday's operation, two Britons and two Filipinos. Two others, a Briton and an Algerian, died Wednesday in the initial militant ambush on a bus ferrying foreign workers to an airport. Citing hospital officials, it said six Algerians and seven foreigners were injured.
APS said some 600 local workers were safely freed in the raid — but many of those were reportedly released the day before by the militants themselves.
One Irish hostage managed to escape: electrician Stephen McFaul, who'd worked in North Africa's oil and natural gas fields off and on for 15 years. His family said the militants let hostages call their families to press the kidnappers' demands.
"He phoned me at 9 o'clock to say al-Qaida were holding him, kidnapped, and to contact the Irish government, for they wanted publicity. Nightmare, so it was. Never want to do it again. He'll not be back! He'll take a job here in Belfast like the rest of us," said his mother, Marie.
Dylan, McFaul's 13-year-old son, started crying as he talked to Ulster Television. "I feel over the moon, just really excited. I just can't wait for him to get home," he said.
————
Schemm reported from Rabat, Morocco. Associated Press writers Bradley Klapper, Lolita Baldor and Robert Burns in Washington, Lori Hinnant in Paris, Shawn Pogatchnik in Dublin, Bjoern H. Amland in Oslo, Norway, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Cassandra Vinograd, Paisley Dodds and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report
'Battalion of Blood' gang offers to SWAP two U.S. hostages seized in gas field siege for two terrorists jailed in America - including the World Trade Center bomber
- Kidnappers want US to free Omar Abdel Rahman and Aafia Siddiqui who are both in American prisons
- Algeria's news service says nearly 100 of 132 foreign hostages have now been freed
- The fate of the other hostages is unclear
- An American from Texas is among those feared dead after a bloody raid by the Algerian military on Thursday
- Fierce gun battles erupted as troops moved in on the Islamists at a BP site in Algeria
- Source said 30 hostages were killed in the botched raid
- The Obama administration was not aware of the heavily armed rescue mission ahead of time
- Algerian officials said 18 militants have been killed but there were estimated to be 70 in total
- Captors were reportedly threatening this morning to attack other energy installations
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Islamist militants have today offered to free two American hostages held captive at an Algerian gas field in exchange for the release of two renowned terrorists jailed in the United States.
The attempt to negotiate comes after a US citizen and up to 12 Britons, who were kidnapped with dozens of other foreign oil workers on Wednesday, were killed in a botched rescue mission by Algerian forces.
The outrageous offer is likely to fall flat in Washington as the Obama administration routinely refuses to give in to the demands of terrorists.
Algeria's state news service reported at around 11 a.m. EST that nearly 100 of the 132 foreign workers kidnapped had now been freed.
The service earlier reported that as many as 60 hostages remained unaccounted for as the bloody siege entered its third day. The new information, however, still meant the fate of over 30 foreign energy workers was unclear.
Yesterday's air raid, which was carried out by Algerian helicopters and special forces without the prior knowledge of the US government, was meant to wipe out the al-Qaeda-linked militants and free the dozens of foreigners from at least 10 countries who were being held, but instead left scores of people dead, injured or missing.
Militants said seven Americans had been taken hostage and it was reported that two of them escaped unharmed yesterday.
Kidnappers said today that they want to swap two Americans still in captivity for prominent terror figures who are in jail in the US, according to the Mauritanian news agency ANI. The report said the militants plan to release a video outlining the offer.
One of the two terrorists the captors want freed is Omar Abdel Rahman, who was convicted of plotting to blow up New York City landmarks and masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Often referred to as 'The Blind Sheikh', Abdel Rahman, 74, is currently serving a life sentence at the Butner Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina.
They are also demanding the release of Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year term in the US for the attempted murder of FBI and US military officials who she shot at in Afghanistan. The 40-year-old missed and the men survived.
The offer, according to ANI, which frequently broadcasts dispatches from groups linked to al-Qaida, came from Moktar Belmoktar, an extremist commander based in Mali who apparently masterminded Wednesday's attack.
Bloodbath in the desert: As many as 35 of the 41 hostages and 15 kidnappers are killed after the Algerian military launched an air strike
Siege: Algerian forces struck after the al-Qaeda gunmen reinforced their position around a liquid gas installation (file picture)
Algeria's news service said special forces had resumed negotiations with militants today as foreign leaders scrambled to find out the fates of their citizens.
According to Reuters, the kidnappers were also threatening to attack other energy installations after the bloody raid.
The American who was killed in the raid is from Texas although his or her name has not been released nor any other details.
A U.S. C-130 military aircraft is evacuating between 10 and 20 people caught up in the hostage-taking, a U.S. defense official told CNN on Friday. They will be flown to U.S. facilities in Europe, the official said, and the condition of those who are injured will be assessed on the flight.
'We just don't know what kind of injuries they have,' he said.
A total of 18 militants were killed and the plant's living quarters were secured, according to the Algerian government news agency, which cited security officials.
A road sign indicating In Amenas, about 100 km (60 miles) from the Algerian and Libyan border
Remote: The In Salah gas project is located in the Sahara desert in Algeria
Mr Panetta said in London that there was 'no justification for the kidnapping and murder of innocent people' in Algeria, and vowed the US government was 'working around the clock to ensure the safe return of our citizens.'
He warned terrorists in Algeria that there was 'no place to hide' and said that American authorities were working closely with Britain and other nations 'to assess precisely what was happening on the ground.'
He added that 'regardless of the motivation of hostage takers there was no justification for the kidnap and murder of innocent people going about their daily lives.'
'Terrorists should be on notice that they will find no sanctuary or refuge; not in Algeria, not in North Africa, not anywhere. Those who will want only to attack will have no place to hide,' he said.
Instead of freeing the dozens of hostages, the raid resulted in bloody chaos at the isolated plant 800 miles south of the capital, Algiers, leaving the fate of many of the captives and the fighters uncertain. In launching its assault, Algeria also ignored offers of help from the SAS and American special forces.
Swap: The militants are offering to swap two American hostages for Omar Abdel Rahman, right, who masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and Aafia Siddiqui, left who is serving an 86-year term for the attempted murder of FBI and US military officials
We asked them not to go in with all guns blazing and they just did it anyway,' said one London official. 'They insisted this was their sovereign territory and it was their operation.'
French sources said the decision to go in was taken because the terrorists were executing hostages. Last night, after a fierce day of fighting, Algerian officials said the rescue operation was over. They said Tahar Ben Cheneb, a prominent commander in the region, was among the dead militants.
The 11 bodies of gunmen found on Thursday comprised three Egyptians, two Tunisians, two Libyans, a Malian and a Frenchman and all were assumed to have been hostage-takers, a security source told Reuters. Algeria state news agency APS said the group had planned to take the hostages to Mali.
On Friday, the source said 18 militants had now been found dead.
A source said yesterday that 30 hostages were killed, of whom the nationalities of 15 had been established. Of these, eight were Algerian and seven were foreigners, including two British, two Japanese and a French national. One Briton was killed when the terrorists seized the gas compound on Wednesday. The number of foreigners unaccounted for and feared dead is now at 60.
An Irish engineer who survived said he saw four jeeps full of hostages blown up by Algerian troops whose commanders said they moved in about 30 hours after the siege began because the gunmen had demanded to be allowed to take their captives abroad.
Horror: Thirty foreign hostages are dead after a helicopter air strike by Algerian forces on the BP gas plant seized by Al Qaeda-linked terrorists led by veteran jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar (above)
Terrorists who seized hostages at the Algerian gas plant said the assault was in revenge for France's attacks on Islamists rebels in neighbouring Mali (see here patrolling the streets of Gao last year)
'I hid in my room for nearly 40 hours, under the bed. I put boards up pretty much all round,' Alexandre Berceaux told Europe 1. 'I didn't know how long I was going to stay there ... I was afraid. I could see myself already ending up in a pine box.'
The Japanese government said on Friday that three of its citizens escaped but 14 were still unaccounted for and their fate was unclear.
BP said there was a 'small number of BP employees' at the facility 'whose current location and situation remain uncertain.' It added that 11 employees and hundreds of staff at other oil companies were flown out of the area yesterday and also described the situation as 'ongoing.'
Fierce gun battles erupted at midday on Thursday as troops moved in on the Islamists and there were claims that hostages had been used as human shields. An eyewitness described a scene of carnage, saying: 'There were bodies all over the ground.' Another spoke of Algerian forces firing at 'anything that moved'.
The Obama administration appeared to be in the dark on Thursday about the hostage situation at the natural gas plant deep in the Sahara Desert. An administrative official told the Associated Press that the U.S. was not aware of the raid to free the hostages in advance.
Intel: The Obama administration had no prior knowledge of the Algerian raid of the militant-held complex; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said was planing to speak on Thursday with Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal and again today
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said U.S. counterterrorism officials were in touch with their Algerian counterparts and that she planned to speak on Thursday with Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal for the second time in as many days. She made a vague reference to ongoing U.S. 'planning,' without elaborating.
'The security of our Americans who are held hostage is our highest priority,' Clinton told reporters. 'Because of the fluidity and the fact that there is a lot of planning going on, I cannot give you any further details.
'This is a serious and sensitive situation,' Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters traveling with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in England. Little said military officials were actively seeking information, and that Panetta had been briefed by senior military officials.
Ahead of the raid, U.S. officials had been urging the Algerians to be cautious in their actions, but did not know a rescue mission was planned, said the administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Militants earlier said they were holding seven Americans, but the administration confirmed only that Americans were among those taken.
'We are deeply concerned about any loss of innocent life and are seeking clarity from the government of Algeria,' White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters.
Relief: Hostages embrace today after they were freed from a gas facility in Algeria where Islamist militants were holding them
Freed: An image grab taken from footage broadcast by Algeria's Al-Jazairia 3 TV today shows freed foreign hostages giving witness accounts after fleeing their Islamist captors following a deadly commando raid by Algerian forces
A local worker said from his home on Thursday that the Islamist gunmen of the ‘Battalion of Blood’ told the terrified staff that they would not harm Muslims but would kill 'Christians and infidels.'
Algerian security specialist Anis Rahmani told Reuters about 70 militants were involved from two groups, Belmokhtar's 'Those who sign in blood,' who travelled from Libya, and the lesser known 'Movement of the Islamic Youth in the South.'
ISLAMIST MILITANTS DEMAND: FREE 'THE BLIND SHEIKH'
One of the two terrorists the captors want freed from a US prison is Omar Abdel Rahman.
The 74-year-old was convicted of plotting to blow up New York City landmarks and masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Often referred to as 'The Blind Sheikh', Abdel Rahman is currently serving a life sentence at the Butner Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina.
Last night, as the military operation to rescue those captured continued, a local worker revealed how the militants appeared to have a clear strategy for their prisoners – some of whom even ended up having explosives strapped to their chest.
'The terrorists told us at the very start that they would not hurt Muslims but were only interested in the Christians and infidels,' Abdelkader, 53, told the Mail from his home in the nearby town of In Amenas. '"We will kill them," they said.'
The U.S. government sent an unmanned surveillance drone to the BP-operated site, near the border with Libya and 800 miles (1,290 kilometers) from the Algerian capital, but it could do little more than watch Thursday's intervention.
Algeria's army-dominated government, hardened by decades of fighting Islamist militants, shrugged aside foreign offers of help and drove ahead alone.
With the hostage drama entering its second day Thursday, Algerian security forces moved in, first with helicopter fire and then special forces, according to diplomats, a website close to the militants, and an Algerian security official.
The government said it was forced to intervene because the militants were being stubborn and wanted to flee with the hostages.
The militants — led by a Mali-based al-Qaida offshoot known as the Masked Brigade — suffered losses in Thursday's military assault, but succeeded in garnering a global audience.
Even violence-scarred Algerians were stunned by the brazen hostage-taking Wednesday, the biggest in northern Africa in years and the first to include Americans as targets. Mass fighting in the 1990s had largely spared the lucrative oil and gas industry that gives Algeria its economic independence and regional weight.
The hostage-taking raised questions about security for sites run by multinationals that are dotted across Africa's largest country.
It also raised the prospect of similar attacks on other countries allied against the extremist warlords and drug traffickers who rule a vast patch of desert across several countries in northwest Africa.
Even the heavy-handed Algerian response may not deter groups looking for martyrdom and attention.
Casualty figures in the Algerian standoff varied widely. The remote location is extremely hard to reach and was surrounded by Algerian security forces — who, like the militants, are inclined to advertise their successes and minimize their failures.
'An important number of hostages were freed and an important number of terrorists were eliminated, and we regret the few dead and wounded,' Algeria's communications minister, Mohand Said Oubelaid, told national media, adding that the 'terrorists are multinational,' coming from several different countries with the goal of 'destabilizing Algeria, embroiling it in the Mali conflict and damaging its natural gas infrastructure.'
Mobilising: French army helicopters arrive at the military airbase in Bamako before their deployment in Northern Mali, where France has launched attacks on Al Qaeda rebels
Weapons: French soldiers from 2nd RIMA 'Marsouins' unit gather on the tarmac of the military airbase in Bamako, the capital of Mali
Two others, a Briton and an Algerian, died Wednesday in an ambush on a bus ferrying foreign workers to an airport. Citing hospital officials, the APS news agency said six Algerians and seven foreigners were injured.
APS said some 600 local workers were safely freed in the raid — but many of those were reportedly released the day before by the militants themselves.
PAKISTANI SCIENTIST WOULD ALSO BE FREED UNDER SWAP DEAL
The militants are also demanding the release of Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui.
She is serving an 86-year term in the US for the attempted murder of FBI and US military officials who she shot at in Afghanistan during her 2008 detention.
The 40-year-old missed and the men survived. She was convicted in 2010.
By nightfall, Algeria's government said the raid was over. But the whereabouts of the rest of the plant workers was unclear.
President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke on the phone to share their confusion. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the Obama administration was 'seeking clarity from the government of Algeria.'
An unarmed American surveillance drone soared overhead as the Algerian forces closed in, U.S. officials said.
The U.S. offered military assistance Wednesday to help rescue the hostages but the Algerian government refused, a U.S. official said in Washington.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the offer.
Militants earlier said they were holding seven Americans, but the administration confirmed only that Americans were among those taken. The U.S. government was in contact with American businesses across North Africa and the Middle East to help them guard against the possibility of copycat attacks
BP, the Norwegian company Statoil and the Algerian state oil company Sonatrach, operate the gas field and a Japanese company, JGC Corp, provides services for the facility.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe protested the military raid as an act that 'threatened the lives of the hostages,' according to a spokesman.
Jean-Christophe Gray, a spokesman for Cameron, said Britain was not informed in advance of the raid.
Diplomats privately described the fiasco as the most serious hostage crisis since Iran seized 52 American officials in 1979.
Norway's prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, summed up the anger and frustration felt by Western governments and said too he had been in constant contact with Mr Sellal.
'My message was that concern for the lives and health of the hostages had to go first,' he said. 'That was also the attitude of David Cameron. Our desire was that they showed restraint.
'We all feel deep anxiety of not knowing what has happened to our citizens and the other hostages. I feel for the families. What has happened is abominable.'
The militant group believed to be holding the hostages has claimed that it carried out the attack in retaliation for the French military intervention against Al Qaeda-backed rebels in neighbouring Mali.
Scene: The plant is located in In Amenas, around 60 miles from the Libyan border and 800 miles from the capital in Algeria's vast desert south
Blood Battalion gunmen had one aim: Kill infidels and Christians
By David WilliamsFrom the very start of the dawn raid, they were interested only in killing 'Christians and infidels'.
When the Islamist gunmen of the 'Battalion of Blood' stormed the gas plant in the Sahara desert, they used the chilling language of radical Islam, telling terrified staff they would not harm Muslims but would kill Western hostages.
Last night, as the military operation to rescue those captured ended, a local worker revealed how the militants appeared to have a clear strategy for their prisoners – some of whom even ended up having explosives strapped to their chest.
'The terrorists told us at the very start that they would not hurt Muslims but were only interested in the Christians and infidels,' Abdelkader, 53, said from his home in the nearby town of In Amenas. '"We will kill them," they said.'
Bloodbath: Helicopters began strafing the plant in In Amenas (above) this morning, hours after the rebels had threatened to blow up the hostages if they intervened
BP, whose headquarters are based in London (above) confirmed there had been a 'security incident' at their In Amenas gas field in east central Algeria
The kidnappers said they were retaliating for last week's French offensive in neighbouring Mali, and demanded that Paris call off the operation and that Algeria withdraw co-operation.
Security experts, however, said the raid appeared to have been planned well in advance – although the decision to launch it now may well have been influenced by events in Mali.
Last night confusion surrounded the exact number killed when two Algerian helicopters opened fire on vehicles within the compound where more than 40 international workers were being held.
There were reports of continued fighting at two sites – one in the refinery and one in the living quarters – where hostages were still being held, before a local news agency said the operation had finished.
Q&A: WHY HAVE EXTREMISTS CHOSEN ALGERIA GAS PLANT FOR REVENGE?
British workers are among at least eight foreigners abducted today by al-Qaeda militants from the BP-operated Amenas natural gas field (above) field in Algeria
The group, named the Masked Brigade, claim the assault was in revenge for France's attacks on al-Qaeda rebels who have taken control of areas in neighbouring Mali, a former French colony
Why target Algeria?
Algeria has been an ally of the U.S. and France in fighting terrorism for years.
A spokesman said it was in retaliation for Algeria allowing France to use its airspace to carry out raids on northern Mali.
A statement from the group said: 'We hold the Algerian government and the French government and the countries of the hostages fully responsible if our demands are not met and it is up to them to stop the brutal aggression against our people in Mali.'
Algeria had long warned against military intervention against the rebels in northern Mali, fearing the violence could spill over its own long and porous border.
Do extremists have a stronghold in Algeria?
Algeria's strong security forces have struggled for years against Islamist extremists and have in recent years managed to nearly snuff out violence by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb around its home base in northern Algeria. In the meantime, AQIM moved its focus southward.
AQIM has made tens of millions of dollars off kidnapping in the region, abducting Algerian businessmen or political figures for ransom and sometimes foreigners.
But the In Amenas attack was the first of its kind in Algeria since 32 European tourists were kidhapped by the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, later renamed Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), in February 2003.
What's the current situation in Mali?
Fighting has raged in one town, airstrikes have hit another and army troops raced to protect a third on the seventh day of the French-led military intervention.
Banamba, a town located only 90 miles (144 kilometers) from Mali's capital was put on alert overnight and a contingent of roughly 100 Malian soldiers sped there on Thursday after a reported sighting of jihadists in the vicinity, marking the closest that the extremists have come to Mali's largest city and seat of government
Malian soldiers listen to President Dioncounda Traore. The UK is offering logistical support to French forces operating in Mali
LATEST HOSTAGE NUMBERS AND NATIONALITIES
Algeria's state news service says 132 foreign hostages were being held captive though nearly 100 have now been freed, leaving just over 30 people still unaccounted for at the natural gas complex.
There are, however, conflicting reports about the numbers and nationalities of those killed or missing.
Here's a summary of the latest information on the hostages:
ALGERIA:Hundreds of Algerians worked at the gas plant, but the Algerian media says most have been released. The Norwegian energy company Statoil says three of its Algerian employees are being held.
NORWAY: Nine Norwegians employees of Statoil are hostages, the company says.
AMERICA:Seven Americans have been captured, according to the militants. The U.S. says its citizens are involved but has given no numbers. Two are believed to have escaped in the raid.
BRITAIN: 'Several' British nationals are among the hostages, the UK government says.
JAPAN: At least three of the hostages are Japanese, according to the Japanese media.
MALAYSIA: Two Malaysians being held, the government says.
IRELAND: A 36-year-old Irish man is among the hostages, according to Ireland's government.
There are, however, conflicting reports about the numbers and nationalities of those killed or missing.
Here's a summary of the latest information on the hostages:
ALGERIA:Hundreds of Algerians worked at the gas plant, but the Algerian media says most have been released. The Norwegian energy company Statoil says three of its Algerian employees are being held.
NORWAY: Nine Norwegians employees of Statoil are hostages, the company says.
AMERICA:Seven Americans have been captured, according to the militants. The U.S. says its citizens are involved but has given no numbers. Two are believed to have escaped in the raid.
BRITAIN: 'Several' British nationals are among the hostages, the UK government says.
JAPAN: At least three of the hostages are Japanese, according to the Japanese media.
MALAYSIA: Two Malaysians being held, the government says.
IRELAND: A 36-year-old Irish man is among the hostages, according to Ireland's government.
It was unclear whether the leader of the kidnappers, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a veteran Islamist guerrilla who set up his own group in the Sahara after falling out with other local Al Qaeda leaders, was among those killed.
A holy warrior-cum-smuggler dubbed 'The Uncatchable' by French intelligence and 'Mr Marlboro' by some locals for his illicit cigarette-running business, Belmokhtar's links to those who seized towns across northern Mali last year are unclear.
The hostage-takers earlier allowed some prisoners to speak to the media, apparently to put pressure on Algerian forces not to storm the compound.
An unidentified hostage who spoke to France 24 television said prisoners were forced to wear explosive belts and captors had threatened to blow up the plant.
Two hostages, identified as British and Irish, spoke to Al Jazeera television and called on the Algerian army to withdraw to avoid casualties.
'We are receiving care and good treatment from the kidnappers. The (Algerian) army did not withdraw and they are firing at the camp,' the British man said. 'There are around 150 Algerian hostages. We say to everybody that negotiation is a sign of strength and will spare many any loss of life.'
But within an hour of those calls, Algerian forces, who steadfastly refuse to negotiate with kidnappers, had moved in after surrounding the complex.
The insurgents had vowed revenge for the French military operation in Mali – Britain has lent transport planes and promised help with training Malian forces – and there are fears France's actions could prompt further attacks on Western targets in Africa.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2264313/Algerian-crisis-Americans-30-hostages-killed-Algerian-government-executes-botched-raid-BP-gas-field.html#ixzz2ILk4fbIK
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