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Algerian hostages forced to wear Bomb belts, The Norwegian authority calls for safe return of their citizens

Thursday, 17 January 2013
Several of the hostages held by Islamists in Algeria are reported to have been forced to wear bomb belts or explosive around their waists to prevent security forces from storming the facility and rescuing them.

In a telephone conversation with the French channel, France 24 a French hostage said that he is trapped along with people from England, Japan, Malaysia and the Philippines. Also that there are explosives around the buildings the hostages held in.

Islamists have killed two people and taken 41 hostages at the BP/ Statoil facility in eastern Algeria, which was attacked on Wednesday. Several hostages are reportedly dressed with bomb belts as kidnappers say they are from Mali and wand the French to withdraw from intervention there.

The CEO of Statoil, Helge Lund, said in a live press conference in Norway that the hostage situation "remains unresolved" and that no new information has emerged during the night.
"All our efforts are directed towards safely bringing home our employees and to provide support and assistance to the people involved, "he said.

Img: Swedish television news

"I can confirm that we have increased the level of preparedness on other Statoil facilities, "said Lund.
He says that of the 17 Statoil employees who were on or adjacent to the facility when it was stormed were taken to safety. The other twelve are held in the hostage crisis sitaution.
Norwegian authorities urges Algeria to primarily take into account the lives of hostages.

"That is the message I conveyed to my counterparts in Algeria, the lives of hostages should be primarily "said Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide to Norwegin news agency, NTB.
"The hostages and hostage-takers are inside and Algerian forces on the outside. Both hostages and hostage-takers seem to be locked together, and that's what makes the situation so complex, "adds Eide.

The U.S. military has a group of soldiers specially trained for hostage situations, in readiness in the region, according to CNN. They can be deployed at four hours' notice if President Barack Obama gives permission to proceed.

Previously, the Islamists in the Sahel region lacked capacity to perform this type of action. Nevertheless, after the conflict in Libya in 2011, they have access to more and heavier weapons.

A French employee at the plant told AFP via telephone that the armed group demanded that 100 Islamists imprisoned in Algeria be released in exchange for the hostages.
"The attackers have demanded that the prisoners be taken to northern Mali, "he said.
Algerian Interior Minister Dahou Ould Kablia, who appeared on television, ruled that the government would negotiate with "terrorists" who he said was surrounded.
By Scancomark.com Team

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