Obama blames bloodbath on militants

A hostage crisis in Algeria has ended with the deaths of seven foreigners and 11 Al-Qaeda-linked gunmen.

US President Barack Obama has blamed Islamic militants for the deadly end to the hostage crisis at an Algerian gas plant.

In a statement from the White House, Obama said the blame lay with the militants and that the United States condemns their actions.

"This attack is another reminder of the threat posed by al-Qaida and other violent extremist groups in North Africa," Obama said. "In the coming days, we will remain in close touch with the government of Algeria to gain a fuller understanding of what took place so that we can work together to prevent tragedies like this in the future."

President Barack Obama said the US stands ready to provide whatever assistance Algerian officials need in the aftermath of the deadly terrorist attack at a natural gas complex in the Sahara.

The dramatic four-day hostage crisis at an Algerian gas plant ended in a bloodbath when Islamists executed all seven of their remaining foreign captives as troops stormed the desert complex.

Amateur video appears to show burnt out vehicles following a government attack on a convoy of vehicles from an Algerian desert gas plant. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

Twenty-three hostages, including an unknown number of foreigners, died during the siege that began when the Al-Qaeda-linked gunmen attacked the facility deep in the Sahara at dawn on Wednesday, the interior ministry said.

The Philippines said that 52 of its nationals caught up in the Algerian hostage crisis had been accounted for, but it was still not known whether any Filipinos were among the dead.

The Philippines has not confirmed how many of its nationals were working at the plant, but said 52 had been accounted for and 39 of those were expected to arrive in Manila later today.  

Meanwhile, a Japanese engineering firm said that 10 of its Japanese and seven of its foreign workers remained unaccounted for at an Algerian gas plant seized by Islamist militants, adding the situation was "grave".

An image from Algeria's Ennahar TV shows hostages surrendering to Islamist gunmen who overtook a gas facility in Tiguentourine near In Amenas in the south of the country.

The Malaysian foreign ministry, quoting the firm, JGC Corp., said that two of its nationals were among the seven unaccounted for, and there was a "worrying possibility" that one of them was dead. The other three Malaysians who had been working at the plant had been confirmed safe.

JGC said it had confirmed the safety of 61 of 78 workers after Algerian troops stormed the remote gas plant  to end the hostage crisis in which Algerian authorities said 23 foreigners and Algerians were killed.

Thirty-two kidnappers were also killed, and special forces were able to free "685 Algerian workers and 107 foreigners," the ministry said.

The kidnappers led by Algerian Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a former Al-Qaeda commander in North Africa, killed two people on a bus, a Briton and an Algerian, before taking hundreds of workers hostage when they overran the In Amenas complex.

Two freed British hostages identified as Peter (centre) and Alan (left) with an unidentified Norwegian hostage outside a police station in Ain Amenas, Algeria.

Belmokhtar's "Signatories in Blood" group had been demanding an end to French military intervention against jihadists in neighbouring Mali.

In the assault, "the Algerian army took out 11 terrorists, and the terrorist group killed seven foreign hostages," state television said, without giving a breakdown of their nationalities.

A security official who spoke to AFP as army helicopters overflew the plant gave the same death tolls, adding it was believed the foreigners were executed "in retaliation".

As experts began to clear the complex of bombs planted by the Islamists, residents of In Amenas breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Freed Algerian hostages arrive at Algiers airport after they were released by Islamist captors from a gas plant in In Amenas. Seven foreign hostages and 11 Islamist gunmen were killed on Saturday when the desert stand-off ended in a bloodbath.

"We went from a peaceful situation to a terror situation," said one resident who gave his name as Fouad.

"The plant could have exploded and taken out the town," said another.

Brahim Zaghdaoui said he was not surprised by the Algerian army's ruthless final assault.

"It was predictable that it would end like that," he said.

Britain's Secretary of State for Defence Philip Hammond, left, addresses the media alongside US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta in London. Picture: Jacquelyn Martin)

Most of the hostages had been freed on Thursday when Algerian forces launched a rescue operation, which was widely condemned as hasty.

But French President Francois Hollande and US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta refused to lay the blame on Algeria.

The Algiers government's response was "the most appropriate" given it was dealing with "coldly determined terrorists ready to kill their hostages," said Hollande.

Panetta added: "They are in the region, they understand the threat from terrorism... I think it's important that we continue to work with (Algiers) to develop a regional approach."

Islamists at an Algerian gas plant are demanding a prisoner swap and an end to French military action in Mali.

British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the crisis had been "brought to an end by a further assault by Algerian forces, which has resulted in further loss of life".

"We're pressing the Algerians for details on the exact situation," he said.

The deaths were "appalling and unacceptable and we must be clear that it is the terrorists who bear sole responsibility for it," he told a news conference with Panetta.

The hostage-taking was the largest since the 2008 Mumbai attack, and the biggest by jihadists since hundreds were killed in a Moscow theatre in 2002 and at a school in the Russian town of Beslan in 2004, according to monitoring group IntelCenter.

Islamist militants threaten to kill their remaining captives following an assault by Algerian troops.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said five British nationals and a British resident are dead or unaccounted for.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan said he had received "severe information" about 10 of his country's nationals who were still missing.

On Friday the gunmen, cited by Mauritania's ANI news agency, said they were still holding "seven foreign hostages" - three Belgians, two Americans, one Japanese and a Briton.

However, Brussels said it had no indication any of its nationals were being held.

Algeria was strongly criticised for launching the initial assault, which the kidnappers said had left dead 34 of the hostages and 15 of their own fighters.

A satellite image shows the Amenas Gas Field in Algeria where foreign hostages are held by al-Qaida-linked militants, with estimates for the number of dead vary wildly from four to dozens. Picture: DigitalGlobe

Belmokhtar also wanted to exchange American hostages for the blind Egyptian sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman and Pakistani Aafia Siddiqui, jailed in the United States on charges of terrorist links.

At least one American had already been confirmed dead before the assault.

But the State Department said "the United States does not negotiate with terrorists".

France, which said that 2,000 of the 2,500 troops it had pledged were now on the ground in Mali, said that no more of its citizens were being held.

A rescued hostage receives treatment in a hospital In Amenas.

President Hollande said French troops would stay in Mali as long as is needed "to defeat terrorism" in the West African country and its neighbours.

Algerian news agency APS quoted a government official as saying the kidnappers, who claimed to have come from Niger, were armed with machineguns, assault rifles, rocket launchers and missiles.

This was confirmed by an Algerian driver, Iba El Haza, who said the hostage-takers spoke in different Arabic dialects and perhaps also in English.

"From their accents I understood one was Egyptian, one Tunisian, another Algerian and one was speaking English or (another) foreign language," Haza told AFP after escaping on Thursday.

A family photograph of escaped Irish hostage Stephen McFaul, seen with his sons. Mr McFaul has contacted his family in Belfast to tell them he is safe, Ireland said. Picture: AFP/HO/Family album

"The terrorists said: "You have nothing to do with this, you are Algerians and Muslims. We won't keep you, we only want the foreigners.'"

A photo of the In Amenas gas field in Algeria, where Islamist militants took dozens of foreign hostages on Wednesday. Picture: AFP/Statoil/Kjetil Alsvik

This video grab shows former al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) emir Mokhtar Belmokhtar speaking at an undisclosed location. Picture: AFP

Defence Minister Stephen Smith believes no Australians have been caught up in a terrorist attack in Algeria.

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