Fears mount for hostages amid reports of killings
Fears are growing today for the safety of western hostages seized by Islamic militants in Algeria amid reports that as many as 35 have been killed during an Algerian helicopter attack.
Islamic militants reportedly claimed the hostages were killed after Algerian helicopters began strafing the plant. Fifteen kidnappers were also reportedly killed.
The status of a married 36-year-old Antrim man who was being held captive is not yet known.
Earlier today an Algerian official said 20 people, including Europeans and Americans, had escaped from the kidnappers, who had claimed they were holding 41 foreigners.
The al-Qaida-linked militants stormed an Algerian natural gas complex in the Sahara Desert yesterday.
Algerian forces surrounded the militants at the plant since then, and have rejected demands for safe passage.
The militants told a Mauritanian news outlet that Algerian military helicopters strafed the gas complex.
The spokesman for the Masked Brigade, which had earlier claimed responsibility for the assault on the site deep in the Sahara desert, said today that Abou El Baraa, the leader of the kidnappers, was also killed in the helicopter attack.
The information came from the Nouakchott Information Agency, which has often carried reports from al Qaida-linked extremist groups.
The spokesman said the kidnappers were attacked when they attempted to leave the complex.
The Algerian government would not immediately comment on the stand-off.
A spokesman for the militants - said to be speaking by telephone from the gas complex at In Amenas - told the ANI news agency in neighbouring Mauritania the hostages were being moved in oil company vehicles to another part of the site when the air attack happened.
Earlier, one hostage, identified as a Briton, was quoted calling for negotiations to “spare any loss of life”.
He said: “We are receiving care and good treatment from the kidnappers. The (Algerian) army did not withdraw and they are firing at the camp.”
Another hostage said they were being forced to wear explosive belts and the heavily armed gunmen were threatening to blow up the base if the Algerian army stormed it.
British Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokesman, also speaking earlier, said the situation was “very serious and dangerous” but the British government was “working through” the Algerians and BP, which part-controls the facility that was stormed.
“Our focus is on working through the Algerian government and the company,” the Downing Street spokesman said.
Mr Cameron made clear in a telephone call with his Algerian counterpart last night that Britain would consider “any requests that they make for assistance”, his spokesman said. However, none had been made so far.
Asked whether the UK government was happy with the co-operation being offered by the Algerian government, he said: “We are in close contact with them and it’s very important that we continue to be so.”
Oil giant BP, which part-controls the facility that was attacked, said armed groups were still on-site holding a number of its staff, and described the situation as “unresolved and fragile”.
The terrorist group claimed it targeted the Westerners, including seven Americans, in retaliation for the French military intervention against al-Qaida-backed rebels in neighbouring Mali.
The family of a 36-year-old married Irishman, from west Belfast, who has been taken hostage have appealed for his release.
In a statement read by Sinn Féin MP Paul Maskey, they said they have not heard from him since the compound was attacked.
They said: “We are all very concerned about his welfare and want to see him released to us as a matter of urgency, free from harm.
“Our thoughts are with him and all the other captives.”
A second meeting of the British government’s emergency response committee Cobra was held this morning and another will be convened this afternoon.
Arrangements are in place for Mr Cameron to chair a further Cobra meeting from The Hague tomorrow morning, when he will be in the Netherlands to deliver his long-awaited speech on Britain’s relationship with the European Union.
The militants had threatened to “eliminate” the hostages if the Algerians tried to storm the plant.
