http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2013/jan/18/algeria-hostage-crisis-ongoing-says-foreign-office-live-updates
and.....
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/01/2013117114015728807.html
and...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21071378
The remote desert gas facility is not far from the Libyan border
http://www.debka.com/article/22687/Algeria%E2%80%99s-hostage-rescue-operation-is-over-with-many-dead
http://www.blacklistednews.com/%E2%80%98Mali_a_potential_long-term%2C_Afghanistan-like_conflict_for_France%E2%80%99/23669/0/38/38/Y/M.html
Al-Qaeda plans to use North Africa as a stepping stone to Europe and France may witness an Afghanistan-like backlash with the US entering another war, former Pentagon official Michael Maloof told RT.
A lot of the terrorists the French are battling in Mali were well-trained by the US and know how US special forces operate, and can use that knowledge against American troops, Maloof said.
The US will likely assist with troops transportation to the region, which could eventually lead to a coup in the country. The situation may soon become a potential Afghanistan for France, Maloof warned.
RT: Militants have killed two foreigners and are holding foreign hostages at a gas field in Algeria. This is an apparent retaliation for the French offensive in Mali. Is this what Paris has been warned against?
Michael Maloof: Paris was fully aware, and I think the US is aware too. This demonstrates how Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb basically is coordinating their activities. This is a part of the overall Al-Qaeda plan to basically take that northern part of Africa as a stepping stone into Europe itself – and there have been threats in Paris already by Malians.
What is really tragic is the fact that the US trained a lot of these now-terrorists, who basically defected from the government and know many of our activities, and know how we operate from a special forces standpoint and can use them against us.
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/17/2013 17:21 -0500
and...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2013/jan/17/algerian-islamists-hostages-standoff-live
and.....
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/01/16/algeria-hostage-crisis-turns-mali-invasion-into-global-crisis/
Officials are couching it as “terrorism” and promising a retaliatory response, but the group involved in the attack is making it no real secret that this operation is, in their eyes, an extension of the French invasion of Mali over the weekend, simply the transition of the already regional war into a fully global crisis.
French military leaders confirmed the offensive, but downplayed the lack of progress in Diabaly, claiming that the fighters there are the “toughest, most fanatical” of all Mali’s rebels, and that the fight might be easier going if and when Diabaly is reoccupied.
http://www.debka.com/article/22687/Standoff-on-Day-2-of-Algerian-Al-Qaeda-hostage-crisis
They are led by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb – AQIM; the West African jihadist MUJAO; and the Somali al-Shabaab which is linked to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula – AQAP. Together, they are threatening to execute one by one the 10 or eleven French hostages they are holding as part of their revenge on France.
The French declared their mission to be to dislodge the Islamists from an area larger than Afghanistan in the north, including the principal towns of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal. Without several thousand special forces’ troops on the ground, this is just a pipedream.
The disaffected Touareg tribes are supporting al Qaeda against the French as part of their drive for independence. Their added value is the training in special forces’ tactics some 1,500 Touareg fighting men and their three officers received from the US. The US originally reserved them as the main spearhead of a Western Saharan multi-tribe campaign to eradicate al Qaeda in North and West Africa.
Instead, the Sahel tribesmen followed the Touareg in absconding to Mali with top-quality weapons for desert warfare and hundreds of vehicles from US and ex-Libyan military arsenals.
Algeria's official APS news agency says about 60 foreign hostages remain unaccounted for, AP reports.
UK to send intelligence team
Nick Hopkins, the Guardian's defence and security correspondent, will have a piece online soon about Britain's operational response to the ongoing crisis. Here's a taster:
The UK is flying a team of consular staff and intelligence analysts
from MI6 and MI5 to Algiers to help secure the release of the Britons
involved in the ongoing hostage crisis.
The entourage is not understood to include members of the special
forces, though the UK has continued to offer technical and logistical
support, as well as experts in hostage negotiation.
Britain is believed to have advised the Algerians “to play it long”,
in terms of dealing with the kidnappers, and to draw on all the
expertise of those countries that can offer advice and intelligence.
But events moved quickly out of control.
“We don’t have a full picture yet, so it is too early to learn the
lessons. But on the face of it, this is not the way we would have
handled it,” said one source.
from MI6 and MI5 to Algiers to help secure the release of the Britons
involved in the ongoing hostage crisis.
The entourage is not understood to include members of the special
forces, though the UK has continued to offer technical and logistical
support, as well as experts in hostage negotiation.
Britain is believed to have advised the Algerians “to play it long”,
in terms of dealing with the kidnappers, and to draw on all the
expertise of those countries that can offer advice and intelligence.
But events moved quickly out of control.
“We don’t have a full picture yet, so it is too early to learn the
lessons. But on the face of it, this is not the way we would have
handled it,” said one source.
Japan
This from my colleague Justin McCurry, the Guardian's Tokyo correspondent:
Concern is mounting in Japan about the fate of 10 workers thought to be among the hostages at the In Amenas gas field. There are unconfirmed reports that two Japanese nationals were among those who died.
JGC, an engineering firm headquartered in Yokohama, near Tokyo, said on Friday it had confirmed the safety of four more employees, in addition to three it contacted earlier, according to public broadcaster NHK.
The prime minister, Shinzo Abe, cut short a three-nation visit to Southeast Asia to return to Tokyo to oversee Japan's response to the crisis.
There was irritation, bordering on anger, that the Algerian government had not notified Japan of the rescue attempt. Tokyo was told of the operation by Britain's ambassador to Algeria, local reports said. Abe told reporters he has asked his Algerian counterpart Abdelmalek Sellal in a phone conversation to refrain from any moves that could threaten the safety of the hostages.
JGC said that of the 61 non-Japanese it employs at the facility, 10 had been accounted for as of Friday. "There are still some Japanese nationals whose whereabouts are unknown," a company spokesman told reporters in Tokyo on Friday night."We will do as much as we can as their employer to confirm the whereabouts of our Japanese and foreign staff."
Belmokhtar 'offers hostage swap'
Ihab Mohamed writes: According to Mauratania's ANI news agency, which seems to be in contact with the Battalion of Blood, the terrorist group behind the hostage crisis, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the group's leader, is offering to release the American hostages in exchange for the release of Egyptian Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman and Pakistani Aafia Siddiqui, who are in jail in America on terrorism charges.
Belmokhtar has recorded a video message, which he is going to send to the mass media, in which he offers the same swap and calls on the French and Algerians to negotiate an end to the war in northern Mali.
We cannot independently verify this, although ANI has been broadly right in its reports throughout this crisis.
and.....
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/01/2013117114015728807.html
France: hostage crisis justifies Mali action | |
President Hollande says Algeria crisis justifies Mali intervention as French contingent in former colony reaches 1,400
Last Modified: 18 Jan 2013 07:11
| |
| Francois Hollande, French president, has said the on-going hostage crisis in Algeria is evidence that France's military intervention in Mali is justified. Speaking to business leaders in Paris on Thursday, Hollande said "What's happening in Algeria provides further evidence that my decision to intervene in Mali was justified."
Hollande's statement comes hours after the contingent of French troops in the West African nation reaches 1,400. That number represents more than half the total of 2,500 it plans to deploy in its former colony, Jean-Yves Le Drian, defence minister, said.
The soldiers have been sent to the West African state as part of an operation against al-Qaeda linked groups who are in control of the north. Troop numbers have risen quickly since the first French forces were deployed on January 11 after armed groups seized the town of Konna. On Wednesday, French troops began direct ground combat against fighters belonging to al-Qaeda-linked groups, including Ansar al-Dine. Ansar al-Dine fighters and their Tuareg allies occupied northern Mali in April 2012 The Malian army, backed by French troops, was still fighting to retake Konna on Thursday. The French are also involved in a battle for the town of Diabaly, which is within government-controlled territory and was seized by fighters on Monday in a counter offensive launched after the first French airtrikes around Konna. International support The first 200 troops of the 2,000-strong contribution pledged by Chad to the African force in Mali have left N'Djamena, a senior military official said on Thursday. "Two hundred Chadian special forces left N'Djamena last night," the official told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity, adding that the contingent was currently at a military base in Niger. Meanwhile, Western nations have offered to help France logistically, but have stopped short of pledging to send combat troops. During a meeting of European foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday, the EU approved sending 450 to 500 non-combat troops, half of them trainers, to Mali as quickly as possible. "The Dutch government supports the French action in Mali," said Frans Timmermans, Dutch Minister for Foreign Affairs, at the meeting. "It was necessary, to make sure that Mali will not be overrun by Jihadist terrorists and the next stage would be for the EU doing its utmost to make sure that the UN-mandated mission in Mali can become a success."
|
and...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21071378
Hostage siege at Algeria gas plant not over
The remote desert gas facility is not far from the Libyan border
Islamist militants are believed to be still holding a number of hostages at a gas facility in the Algerian desert.
At least four foreign workers and several militants died on Thursday when troops stormed the living quarters.
The militants had claimed to be holding 41 foreigners. At least four were freed but the fate of many others is unknown.
Meanwhile, BP said hundreds of workers from international oil companies had been evacuated from Algeria on Thursday and that many more would follow.
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 in Thursday's operation. One Algerian official said the figures were "exaggerated".
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.
'Surrounded'
On Friday morning, the UK Foreign Office and Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said they believed the incident was ongoing.
"Parts of the plant are under Algerian authorities' control, and other parts are not. This information is changing by the hour," Mr Eide told the BBC.
APS cited local officials as saying the military operation at the gas facility's living quarters, where most of the hostages were held, had ended on Thursday night.
"Hostages are still being held at the Tigantourine gas treatment plant, which is surrounded by special forces," APS added.
Later, UK Prime Minister David Cameron told Parliament that he had been told by his Algerian counterpart, Abdelmalek Sellal, that troops were "still pursuing terrorists and possibly some of the hostages".
"They are now looking at all possible routes to resolve this crisis," he added, describing the situation as "fluid and dangerous".
Mr Cameron also revealed that on Thursday night, the number of British citizens at risk had been fewer than 30, but that it had now been "quite significantly reduced".
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.
Despite requests for communication and pleas to consider the hostages' safety, the UK, Japan and US said they had not been told in advance about the military assault.
Mr Cameron said the Algerian prime minister had told him that commanders had "judged there to be an immediate threat to the lives of the hostages and had felt obliged to respond".
Algerian Communications Minister Mohand Said Oubelaid said: "Those who think we will negotiate with terrorists are delusional."
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. Austria also said one of its nationals had been released and was safe.
APS said about 600 local workers had been freed in the raid, but many were reportedly allowed to leave on Wednesday by the militants.
A worker from CIS Catering, which employs about 150 Algerians at the facility, told French media he had hidden under the bed in his room for 40 hours before being rescued.
"I put boards everywhere. I had food, water, and I did not know how long I would stay there."
"When the soldiers came to get me, I did not even know it was over. They were with colleagues, otherwise I would never have opened the door," he added.
A statement purporting to come from the kidnappers says the raid was carried out in retaliation for the French intervention against Islamist groups, including al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), in neighbouring Mali.
But BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera says the kidnapping was a complex operation which is unlikely to have been planned and carried out since the surprising French intervention in Mali last Friday.
Mr Oubelaid said the militants were intent on "destabilising Algeria, embroiling it in the Mali conflict and damaging its natural gas infrastructure."
Algerian officials said they were operating under orders from Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who was a senior AQIM commander until late last year.
On Friday morning, a spokesman for al-Mulathameen (The Brigade of the Masked Ones) told ANI that it would carry out further operations. He warned Algerians to "stay away from the installations of foreign companies as we will strike where it is least expected".
http://www.debka.com/article/22687/Algeria%E2%80%99s-hostage-rescue-operation-is-over-with-many-dead
Algeria’s military operation at the remote Ein Amenas gas field is over. Few of the 41 foreign hostages - Norwegian, British, Japanese, American, French – are thought to have survived although no definite numbers have been released. They were kidnapped Wednesday by North African al Qaeda wing (AQIM) raiders. This first al Qaeda attack on an African energy site is feared the portent of more terrorist strikes on oil and gas sites across Africa and possibly Arabia. Oil prices jumped 1.3 percent ...
Read moreAl-Qaeda plans to use North Africa as a stepping stone to Europe and France may witness an Afghanistan-like backlash with the US entering another war, former Pentagon official Michael Maloof told RT.
A lot of the terrorists the French are battling in Mali were well-trained by the US and know how US special forces operate, and can use that knowledge against American troops, Maloof said.
The US will likely assist with troops transportation to the region, which could eventually lead to a coup in the country. The situation may soon become a potential Afghanistan for France, Maloof warned.
RT: Militants have killed two foreigners and are holding foreign hostages at a gas field in Algeria. This is an apparent retaliation for the French offensive in Mali. Is this what Paris has been warned against?
Michael Maloof: Paris was fully aware, and I think the US is aware too. This demonstrates how Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb basically is coordinating their activities. This is a part of the overall Al-Qaeda plan to basically take that northern part of Africa as a stepping stone into Europe itself – and there have been threats in Paris already by Malians.
What is really tragic is the fact that the US trained a lot of these now-terrorists, who basically defected from the government and know many of our activities, and know how we operate from a special forces standpoint and can use them against us.
RT: Why did that training initiative go so badly wrong there?
MM: The training went great at the time when it happened. What happened is that they defected. The man who led the coup, [Capt. Amadou Sanogo], was a military man who was actually trained by the US forces. He has insight, and I think General [Carter F.] Ham, one of our top commanders [in Africa], basically declared that this is a disaster that we’re confronting this problem right now.
These troops are very well-trained. They were involved not only in Libya, but also in Mali. They basically turned: They were Tuaregs [nomadic tribes], now they’ve joined forces with AQIM, which is Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
RT: Before asking more about the rebels and their makeup, because it is so easy to call them Al-Qaeda, what about the fact that the US, should it not be obliged now to help France more, as people say it is the US fault? Or is Washington distancing itself from what is going on in Mali?
MM: Not at all. They are involved and providing intelligence and probably will be committing transport to bring in African Union’s troops from African countries. But this could be a double-edged sword, given the uncertainty and volatility within in Mali itself. Many of the foreign troops coming could actually stage their own coups and take over the country. So this is a very dicey situation. It also represents a potential long-term Afghanistan-like effect for France itself, and inadvertently it could suck the United States back yet into another war.
RT: So these groups are actually homegrown in Mali? Or has there has been an element of importation of Islamism coming from other countries?
MM: Both internal and external. They have foreign fighters who have been part of AQIM for some time and as I said earlier this is a part of the grand Al-Qaeda central strategy out of Pakistan these days. I think it’s laying a foundation to lay more attacks into Europe, ultimately. The EU is very concerned about it, I may add.
RT: What’s happening in Mali is provoking possible attacks from elsewhere. The French seem to want to stamp out Islamism and stop Islamists from taking not just the north of Mali, but also the rest of the country. Just bombing them and using a military exercise against them – does that really get rid of the ideology and the actual threat?
MM: No I don’t think so, because after doing something similar for 10 years in Afghanistan we’re ready to pull out and Taliban is ready to move back in. There’s just a question of how effective this approach is going to be. I think that is something the French have to weigh for themselves. This could bring other countries back into a long-drawn conflict. Already Germany is beginning to show some resistance to this and is concerned about the amount of help that they give simply because they see protracted effort such as the experience in Afghanistan.
RT: That is exactly what the rebels are saying. That France is falling into a trap and could be experiencing another Iraq, Afghanistan or another Libya. So you think they may be right here: France is taking on a challenge that it may not be able to cope with along with other countries?
MM: The training went great at the time when it happened. What happened is that they defected. The man who led the coup, [Capt. Amadou Sanogo], was a military man who was actually trained by the US forces. He has insight, and I think General [Carter F.] Ham, one of our top commanders [in Africa], basically declared that this is a disaster that we’re confronting this problem right now.
These troops are very well-trained. They were involved not only in Libya, but also in Mali. They basically turned: They were Tuaregs [nomadic tribes], now they’ve joined forces with AQIM, which is Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
RT: Before asking more about the rebels and their makeup, because it is so easy to call them Al-Qaeda, what about the fact that the US, should it not be obliged now to help France more, as people say it is the US fault? Or is Washington distancing itself from what is going on in Mali?
MM: Not at all. They are involved and providing intelligence and probably will be committing transport to bring in African Union’s troops from African countries. But this could be a double-edged sword, given the uncertainty and volatility within in Mali itself. Many of the foreign troops coming could actually stage their own coups and take over the country. So this is a very dicey situation. It also represents a potential long-term Afghanistan-like effect for France itself, and inadvertently it could suck the United States back yet into another war.
RT: So these groups are actually homegrown in Mali? Or has there has been an element of importation of Islamism coming from other countries?
MM: Both internal and external. They have foreign fighters who have been part of AQIM for some time and as I said earlier this is a part of the grand Al-Qaeda central strategy out of Pakistan these days. I think it’s laying a foundation to lay more attacks into Europe, ultimately. The EU is very concerned about it, I may add.
RT: What’s happening in Mali is provoking possible attacks from elsewhere. The French seem to want to stamp out Islamism and stop Islamists from taking not just the north of Mali, but also the rest of the country. Just bombing them and using a military exercise against them – does that really get rid of the ideology and the actual threat?
MM: No I don’t think so, because after doing something similar for 10 years in Afghanistan we’re ready to pull out and Taliban is ready to move back in. There’s just a question of how effective this approach is going to be. I think that is something the French have to weigh for themselves. This could bring other countries back into a long-drawn conflict. Already Germany is beginning to show some resistance to this and is concerned about the amount of help that they give simply because they see protracted effort such as the experience in Afghanistan.
RT: That is exactly what the rebels are saying. That France is falling into a trap and could be experiencing another Iraq, Afghanistan or another Libya. So you think they may be right here: France is taking on a challenge that it may not be able to cope with along with other countries?
MM: It is almost like a strategy on the part of the rebels to draw them in. I have to add that Russia has a lot to be concerned because it has investments in this region to protect. They of course agreed to the UN Security council resolution to provide assistance to the French. It’s a dicey situation and larger than Mali, per se. It could affect the entire North Africa and enter Europe. I think it is a concern from geostrategic and political standpoint.
RT: So this conflict is going a lot longer, France is ambitious and positive this is going to be over very quickly. What about François Hollande? We start seeing troops with their first combat battles on the ground, 2,500 troops could be engaged on the ground there. If casualties start coming back and retaliate on French soil, what does that do for Hollande in the political situation there?
MM: I think it puts him ill-at-ease politically. Even though he put a strong stand that he’s going to fight them, to resist them, he has been just a recently elected president so he has ways to go. So, he will quickly see if Malian rebels would be able to do something in France, that could make citizens very concerned or they may just say ‘get out’ altogetherto avoid the conflict. He is in a very precarious situation now.
RT: So this conflict is going a lot longer, France is ambitious and positive this is going to be over very quickly. What about François Hollande? We start seeing troops with their first combat battles on the ground, 2,500 troops could be engaged on the ground there. If casualties start coming back and retaliate on French soil, what does that do for Hollande in the political situation there?
MM: I think it puts him ill-at-ease politically. Even though he put a strong stand that he’s going to fight them, to resist them, he has been just a recently elected president so he has ways to go. So, he will quickly see if Malian rebels would be able to do something in France, that could make citizens very concerned or they may just say ‘get out’ altogetherto avoid the conflict. He is in a very precarious situation now.
and.....
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-01-17/us-drones-boots-arrive-mali
US Drones, Boots Arrive In Mali
Absolutely "nobody" could have possibly anticipated that the week old French incursion into Mali could already have such disastrous consequences: a botched hostage rescue attempt by French commandos while leaving behind one of their team, a downed pilot on the first day of the confrontation, rebels that succeeded in capturing a strategic village and military post, and today, yet another hostage crisis in Algeria that has seen tens of hostages killed, potentially including Americans, following another botched rescue operation. Yet, in some ways, perhaps the stars have aligned just right for the US, which as Bloomberg reports, has wasted no time in sending not only drones in the air, but also boots on the ground.
From Bloomberg:
- U.S. military trainers are expected to arrive in West Africa this weekend to train local military forces to fight Islamist insurgents including those now battling French and local government troops in Mali, State Dept. spokeswoman Victoria Nuland says in Washington.
- U.S. now providing intelligence, airlift to French troops fighting insurgents in Mali
- No U.S. troops to operate in Mali; U.S. barred from providing direct assistance to Mali military
So on one hand the US is barred from providing direct assistance, but on the other, US trainers are... providing direct assistance?
But why? Well, take a quick look at the map of French "military assets" in Mali.
What does this map show?
Nothing.
Mali is one of the most irrelevant countries in West Africa from a resource standpoint, and what happens inside of it is certainly irrelevant from a greater geopolitical standpoint.
What is more important is what this map doesn't show, specifically the name of the country located a few hundred miles to the south: Nigeria.
Now Nigeria is important: very important. Or rather, Nigerian light sweet, one of the highest quality crudes in the world, is. And thanks to the "bungled" French peacemaking attempt, the US now has a critical foothold in what is the most strategically placed stretch of desert in Western Africa, a place where US "military trainers" will now be deployed at will.
Be on the lookout for curious escalations in violence around the capital Abuja, and key port city Lagos, in the coming months once the current Mali fracas is long forgotten.
and...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2013/jan/17/algerian-islamists-hostages-standoff-live
LATEST
Reuters is now reporting ANI's claim that 34 (not 35 as reported earlier) hostages and 15 kidnappers have been killed by airstrikes by the Algerian army.
Again, we are unable to confirm that at this point.
The Associated Press is now reporting that militants are telling them that Algerian helicopters are "strafing" the gas plant and have wounded an unspecified number of hostages. We cannot confirm this at this point.
Reports of deaths and siege
We are getting a lot of contradictory reports from Algeria that we cannot yet confirm.
Mauritania's ANI news agency says that several western hostages and kidnappers have been killed in strikes on the gas complex.
Al-Jazeera is reporting that 35 hostages and 15 hostage-takers have been killed in a siege on the plant.
That would not tally with the Algerian government's claim that 25 foreign hostages have escaped.
We will try to confirm exactly what has happened as soon as possible.
LATEST
Reuters is now reporting ANI's claim that 34 (not 35 as reported earlier) hostages and 15 kidnappers have been killed by airstrikes by the Algerian army.
Again, we are unable to confirm that at this point.
The Associated Press is now reporting that militants are telling them that Algerian helicopters are "strafing" the gas plant and have wounded an unspecified number of hostages. We cannot confirm this at this point.
Reports of deaths and siege
We are getting a lot of contradictory reports from Algeria that we cannot yet confirm.
Mauritania's ANI news agency says that several western hostages and kidnappers have been killed in strikes on the gas complex.
Al-Jazeera is reporting that 35 hostages and 15 hostage-takers have been killed in a siege on the plant.
That would not tally with the Algerian government's claim that 25 foreign hostages have escaped.
We will try to confirm exactly what has happened as soon as possible.
Summary
Here is a summary of today’s key events in Algeria so far:
• News agencies in Mauritania are reporting that Algerian aircraft have attacked the gas complex where militants are holding foreign hostages, resulting in the deaths of a number of hostages and kidnappers. This cannot be verified at this time.
• A number of the foreigners held by armed Islamist militants in Algeria are reported to have escaped. An Algerian security source said 25 people, including Europeans, Americans and Japanese, have got away. Some 30 Algerians were reported to have escaped earlier today.
• One Briton and one Algerian have been confirmed killed and others are feared dead in the hostage situation at an Algerian gas field complex. The group, Battalion of Blood, is claiming it has 41 foreign hostages.
• The gunmen are claiming they took the hostages in retaliation for France’s military intervention against al-Qaida-linked rebels in neighbouring Mali. The hostage-takers are reportedly seeking a safe passage out of the isolated area, something Algerian authorities have already rejected. The militants appear to have no escape route; they are cut off by surrounding troops and army helicopters overhead.
• The UK government is reported to have offered assistance to the Algerians but none has been requested.
'Attack' on Algerian gas complex
Two Algerian army helicopters attacked the gas complex where Islamists have seized dozens of foreigners and Algerians, injuring two of the Japanese hostages, Mauritania's ANI news agency has reported, citing one of the kidnappers.
It was not possible to independently verify the report.
ANI has close contacts with the al-Qaida-linked group that has claimed responsibility for the mass kidnapping in retaliation for France's attack on Islamists in neighbouring Mali.
Reports are emerging that some western hostages may also have escaped from the compound where they have been held by Islamist militants since early on Wednesday. Reuters is reporting that:
Algeria's Ennahar television said 15 foreigners, including two French citizens, had escaped the besieged plant deep in the Sahara desert. About 40 Algerians had also been freed, mainly women working as translators, it said.
The agency said a security source had told it that the the captors, who are encircled by Algerian troops, were demanding safe passage out with their prisoners. Algeria has repeatedly refused to negotiate.
Algerian hostage crisis
El Watan, Algeria's leading independent French-language newspaper,says in an editorial that the hostage-taking "is a timely reminder that Algeria was and is still a privileged target for terrorist groups acting within and outside our borders".
Anyone who thought the country "benefited from any temporary respite in the eyes of the extremists" due to Algiers' response to France's intervention in Mali, which favoured above all a negotiated political settlement, has been roundly disabused, the paper writes.
"An attack on the personnel of a foreign company from a country – Britain – which is participating in the Mali conflict with transport aircraft and logistical support" establishes a firm link to the fighting across Algeria's southern border, it says, adding that the Islamists in Mali had made it very clear that besides France, they would seek revenge against any country that supported France in its intervention.
"But beyond the foreign target, it is of course also and above all Algeria that is targeted. Algeria's authorisation for French fighter jets to cross Algerian airspace is perceived as an act of war."
El Watan says the attack on the gas facility is
"extremely serious ... as if the government palace or the presidency had been attacked. No matter where the groups came from, it is the ease with which the operation was mounted and executed, in a region and at a strategic site that was supposed to have the highest level of security, that is most worrying. The Algerian authorities seem to be unaware of the scale of the danger at our doors and the risk of seeing the conflict move here."
Algerian hostage crisis
El Watan, Algeria's leading independent French-language newspaper,says in an editorial that the hostage-taking "is a timely reminder that Algeria was and is still a privileged target for terrorist groups acting within and outside our borders".
Anyone who thought the country "benefited from any temporary respite in the eyes of the extremists" due to Algiers' response to France's intervention in Mali, which favoured above all a negotiated political settlement, has been roundly disabused, the paper writes.
"An attack on the personnel of a foreign company from a country – Britain – which is participating in the Mali conflict with transport aircraft and logistical support" establishes a firm link to the fighting across Algeria's southern border, it says, adding that the Islamists in Mali had made it very clear that besides France, they would seek revenge against any country that supported France in its intervention.
"But beyond the foreign target, it is of course also and above all Algeria that is targeted. Algeria's authorisation for French fighter jets to cross Algerian airspace is perceived as an act of war."
El Watan says the attack on the gas facility is
"extremely serious ... as if the government palace or the presidency had been attacked. No matter where the groups came from, it is the ease with which the operation was mounted and executed, in a region and at a strategic site that was supposed to have the highest level of security, that is most worrying. The Algerian authorities seem to be unaware of the scale of the danger at our doors and the risk of seeing the conflict move here."
and.....
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/01/16/algeria-hostage-crisis-turns-mali-invasion-into-global-crisis/
Algeria Hostage Crisis Turns Mali Invasion Into Global Crisis
41 Foreigners Held by 'Battalion of Blood' in Retaliation for Mali Invasion
by Jason Ditz, January 16, 2013
Islamist fighters calling themselves the “Battalion of Blood” launched a surprise attack on a heavily guarded natural gas plant in Eastern Algeria early this morning, capturing 41 hostages, all of them foreign nations, and many from Britain, France, and the US.
Officials are couching it as “terrorism” and promising a retaliatory response, but the group involved in the attack is making it no real secret that this operation is, in their eyes, an extension of the French invasion of Mali over the weekend, simply the transition of the already regional war into a fully global crisis.
Exactly how the attackers managed to overrun the facility so easily is unclear, as is the fate of the local workers, 150 or so are still reportedly also being held, though in a separate location from the foreigners and apparently in much less restrictive conditions.
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta promised that the US would do whatever is necessary and proper to “deal with this situation,” but the comments from him and others suggest that isn’t going to include any serious effort to negotiate for the release of the hostages, and at best one might expect another unilateral raid, like the failed French raid in Somalia over the weekend that not only failed to free the hostage, but got one of the rescue team captured and eight civilians killed as well.
Instead, US and international reaction is liable to center around further escalation in Mali to spite the kidnappers, while cynically pressing Algeria for yet more concessions in enabling and potentially joining that war.
and.....
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/01/16/french-troops-in-close-quarter-combat-in-southern-mali/
French Troops in Close-Quarter Combat in Southern Mali
Special Forces Fighting in Diabaly, Troops Fear Rebel Advance Against Niono
by Jason Ditz, January 16, 2013
Air strikes are continuing across the Malian frontier today, but French troops are hoping to make gains on the ground today, attacking the town of Diabaly in southern Mali in what is being called a fierce battle.
French military leaders confirmed the offensive, but downplayed the lack of progress in Diabaly, claiming that the fighters there are the “toughest, most fanatical” of all Mali’s rebels, and that the fight might be easier going if and when Diabaly is reoccupied.
Diabaly has only been under rebel control for about two days, having been overrun by rebel forces who reportedly attacked from neighboring Mauritania. A French victory in the siege is not guaranteed either, as French troops are also reinforcing the town of Niono, due south of Diabaly, fearing the rebels might just expand southward again.
Though French officials initially predicted the whole Mali war would be effectively won in a matter of weeks, and some are still expressing inordinate optimism considering the conditions on the ground, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the weekend invasion of Mali is not going to be a simple matter, but rather the start of a long, ugly war for France and the nations they manage to convince to join in.
http://www.debka.com/article/22687/Standoff-on-Day-2-of-Algerian-Al-Qaeda-hostage-crisis
Standoff on Day 2 of Algerian-Al Qaeda hostage crisis
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report January 17, 2013, 9:28 AM (GMT+02:00)
On January 11, a few hundred French troops and a handful of fighter jets and gunships launched a campaign against Islamist terrorists in Mali, a West African desert vastness larger than Texas and California combined. This former French colony appealed to Paris for aid to throw back a mixed al Qaeda-rebel advance on the capital, Bamako.
But France, no more than the US, had learned from the Afghanistan War that Al Qaeda cannot be beaten by aerial warfare - certainly not when the jiahdists are highly trained in special forces tactics and backed by highly mobile, well-armed local militias, armed with advanced anti-aircraft weapons and knowledgeable about conditions in the forbidding Sahara.
But France, no more than the US, had learned from the Afghanistan War that Al Qaeda cannot be beaten by aerial warfare - certainly not when the jiahdists are highly trained in special forces tactics and backed by highly mobile, well-armed local militias, armed with advanced anti-aircraft weapons and knowledgeable about conditions in the forbidding Sahara.
Within 48 hours, this modest “crusader” intervention had united a host of pro-al Qaeda offshoots and allies, some of them castoffs from the army of Libya’s deposed Muammar Qaddafi.
They are led by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb – AQIM; the West African jihadist MUJAO; and the Somali al-Shabaab which is linked to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula – AQAP. Together, they are threatening to execute one by one the 10 or eleven French hostages they are holding as part of their revenge on France.
The French declared their mission to be to dislodge the Islamists from an area larger than Afghanistan in the north, including the principal towns of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal. Without several thousand special forces’ troops on the ground, this is just a pipedream.
The disaffected Touareg tribes are supporting al Qaeda against the French as part of their drive for independence. Their added value is the training in special forces’ tactics some 1,500 Touareg fighting men and their three officers received from the US. The US originally reserved them as the main spearhead of a Western Saharan multi-tribe campaign to eradicate al Qaeda in North and West Africa.
Instead, the Sahel tribesmen followed the Touareg in absconding to Mali with top-quality weapons for desert warfare and hundreds of vehicles from US and ex-Libyan military arsenals.
This major setback for US administration plans and counter-terror strategy in Africa tied in with Al Qaeda’s assassination of US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three of his staff in Benghazi last September. Because the United States held back from direct US military action in both cases, Qaeda has been allowed to go from strength to strength and draw into its fold recruits from Mali’s neighbors. They are tightening their grip on northern Mali and have imposed a brutal version of Islam on its inhabitants, putting hundreds to flight.
France stepped in when al Qaeda drove south to extend its rule to all parts of Mali and pose a terrorist threat to Europe.
