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Norwegians among westerners adopted in a hostage drama in Algeria

Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Norwegian Statoil employees have been captured in Algeria by islamist guerrillas in a gas plant in eastern Algerian In Amenas. Among them are mostly about 40 westerners held by kidnappers apparently reacting to western involvement in Mali. A Briton was reportedly killed as well as an Algerian.
Algerian Interior Minister Daho Ould Kabila said troops had surrounded the living quarters at In Amenas region, where the captors are being held. Norwegian, French, British, US and Japanese citizens are among the international workers held.

French news agency, Agence France Press (AFP) quoted one worker as saying the militants had demanded the release of 100 Islamist prisoners. Another report said they wanted France to end its military operation in Mali.

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 about 1,300km (800 miles) south-east of the capital, Algiers, and about 60km (37 miles) west of the Libyan border

Img: Swedish television news

According to Swedish television, at 5:50 Algerian time, Statoil received information that the Statoil and BP - operated gas plant In Amenas in eastern Algeria was under attack.
Overall, Statoil said it had just under 20 employees at the facility, of whom more than 10 were Norwegian who either worked at the gas plant In Amenas or nearby in eastern Algeria. Five others, four Norwegians and Canadians, reported on Wednesday evening, to be safe on a military base while the situation of the other twelve are unclear.

"They are on the field and exposed to terrorists, three of them are local employees and nine are Norwegian," said Lars Christian Bacher, Statoil's director of international development and production, according to Swedish television.

According to the BBC, the attackers were repelled by police who had been escorting the bus, but a Briton and an Algerian national had been killed. Two other British nationals, a Norwegian, two police officers and a security guard were also hurt in the fire fight BBC reports.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said 13 Norwegian employees of Statoil were believed held hostage at the gas facility.

US state department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland confirmed that Americans were among those seized, while Irish Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore said one of its nationals was a hostage.

Japanese news agencies, citing unnamed government officials, said there were three Japanese hostages.
The motives behind the attack are unclear. Algeria announced on Tuesday that it had closed its border with Mali following a French military offensive against Islamic militant fighters in northern Mali.
by Scancomark.com Team

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