British hostages forced to wear 'bomb belts' in Algeria gas plant kidnap

 as TWO expats now feared dead.

British hostages being held with up to 45 others by al-Qaeda terrorists in Algeria have been forced to wear explosive belts, it emerged today.

The sinister development came as sources claimed that two UK nationals had already been killed in the attack at In Amenas, deep in the Saharan south east of the country.

While some 30 Algerian workers are said to have escaped, some of the western hostages are primed to explode if the authorities intervene.

An Algerian security source said the gunmen, who stormed the gas facility on Wednesday, were also demanding safe passage out with their captives.

One hostage, identified as British, spoke to Al Jazeera television and called on the Algerian army to withdraw from the area to avoid casualties.

'We are receiving care and good treatment from the kidnappers. The (Algerian) army did not withdraw and they are firing at the camp,' the man said.

'We say to everybody that negotiations is a sign of strength and will spare many any loss of life,' he said, adding that there were about 150 Algerian hostages in custody. 

Another hostage, identified as Irish, told the Qatar-based channel: 'The situation is deteriorating. 

'We have contacted the embassies and we call the Algerian army to withdraw... we are worried because of the continuation of the firing.

'Among the hostages are French, American, Japanese, British, Norwegian and Irish.'

In what it said was a phone interview with one of the hostage takers, the Mauritanian news agency ANI said Algerian security forces had tried to approach the facility at dawn.

 

'We will kill all the hostages if the Algerian army try to storm the area,' it quoted the hostage-taker as saying.

Algeria has not commented on reports its troops tried to approach.

Numbers of those held were unclear, but a group calling itself the 'Battalion of Blood' earlier said it seized 41 foreigners, including Americans, Japanese and Europeans, after storming a natural gas pumping station and employee barracks in Algeria before dawn on Wednesday.

A third unidentified hostage who spoke to France 24 television said prisoners were being forced to wear explosive belts. Their captors were heavily armed and had threatened to blow up the base if the Algerian army tried to storm it.

'They attacked the two sites at the same time. They went inside, and once it was daylight they gathered everyone together,' the man, who sounded calm, said in the only part of the phone call the French broadcaster aired.

 

Targeted: The group attacked plant around 2am, killing a security guard and kidnapping at least eight people, including English, Norwegian and Japanese nationals (file picture)

British Foreign Secretary William Hague earlier condemned the rebels as 'cold-blooded murderers' and said the government was working 'around the clock' to resolve the crisis.

The rebels are now holding up to 45 foreign nationals, including many from the UK, in a compound linked to a BP gas facility on the Libyan border.

However, Algeria's official APS news agency reported today that 30 Algerian workers have managed to escape the site, but did not say how they eluded their captors.

It is believed some 150 Algerian staff are also on site. They were being prevented from leaving, but were otherwise free to move around inside and keep on working.

Electricity inside the facility has been cut, but intercepted mobile phone traffic suggests that the attack was planned by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a one-eyed Islamist known as Mr Marlboro and The Uncatchable.

'There is no excuse': Foreign Secretary William Hague (above) said the UK Government was working 'around the clock' to end the siege

In a sign the crisis could play out for quite some time, the militants let some of the hostages speak to the media today to warn that they would be blown up if the site is stormed.

An Algerian diplomatic source said 'two British nationals and an Algerian' were believed to have been murdered, while others have been wounded.

These figures were also reported by the Algerian news agency, DNA. 

Mr Hague said Government is working 'around the clock' to end the siege in which a British national was killed and a number of other UK nationals are currently been held captive.

A French security guard and an Algerian security guard are also reported to have been killed and several others injured when heavily armed terrorists from a group known as the ‘Blood Battalion’ stormed the In Amenas natural gas field in 4x4 cars.

The group yesterday claimed it was holding a total of 41 westerners - including seven Americans - in retaliation for the French military intervention against al-Qaeda-backed rebels in neighbouring Mali.

Mr Hague said: 'Whatever excuse is being used by terrorists and murderers, there is no excuse. This is the cold-blooded murder of people going about their business.'

The Algerians officially refuse point blank to negotiate with terrorists, but there has been telephone contact with the killers, said the diplomatic source.

The Algerian government is also in talks with the United States and France over the possibility of bringing in an international force to break the siege, unnamed security officials have claimed.

All of the western hostages are thought to have been bound and gagged, and are being kept under close guard by the gunmen.

 

Algerian forces were last night reported to have been surrounding the hostage-takers and negotiating for the release of their captives, but details of what was happening on the ground were sketchy.

British officials are urging caution on the Algerian military amid fears that they will launch a raid to rescue the hostages, a move that could lead to a bloodbath.

The Foreign Secretary said the situation was 'extremely dangerous' and details could not be given out 'lightly'.

In particular, the Foreign Office has been unable to confirm a report by the Algeria state news agency that a British national was among two people killed in the attack on the In Amenas gas facility, which is part-controlled by BP, close to the Libyan border.

Six others are said to have been wounded, including two foreigners, two police officers and two security agents.

'A number of people are held hostage. This does include a number of British nationals. This is therefore an extremely dangerous situation,' Mr Hague said.

'We are in close touch with the Algerian government, the Algerian military have deployed to the area and the Prime Minister has spoken to the prime minister of Algeria.

'We are liaising very closely with all levels of the Algerian government.'

He said that a rapid deployment team had been sent from the Foreign Office to reinforce British embassy and consular staff in Algeria. 

The Government's emergency response committee Cobra, which met yesterday, would have further meetings.

'We will give more details as it becomes possible to do so but obviously it is a very dangerous situation and we cannot give out details very lightly. We will keep people informed,' he said.

Mr Hague said BP was doing 'a good job' keeping the loved ones and families of those involved in the incident up to date.

'The safety of those involved and their co-workers is our absolute priority and we will work around the clock to resolve this crisis,' he added.

Downing Street said Prime Minister David Cameron 'expressed his sympathy and support' when he spoke to his counterpart Abdelmalek Sellal yesterday evening.

'They agreed to keep in touch as the situation progresses,' a spokeswoman said.

The Irish government said a 36-year-old Irishman was among the hostages. He was believed to be unharmed.

The Algerian interior ministry said the attack began when three vehicles carrying heavily-armed-militants ambushed a bus carrying employees from the gas plant to the nearby airport.

Initially they were driven off, but they then headed for the main complex.

After their failed attempt, the terrorist group headed to the complex's living quarters and took a number of workers with foreign nationalities hostage,' an interior ministry statement said.

'The forces of the People's National Army and security services arrived at the scene and immediately took all necessary measures to make the area secure and seek a rapid resolution of the situation, which is being very closely followed by the national authorities.'

Belmokhtar's gang uses a number of names including Khaled Abul Abbas Brigade, the Masked Ones and The Blood Battalion, and is linked to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

The militant group Katibat Moulathamine - 'The Masked Ones' - yesterday contacted a news agency in the Saharan state of Mauritania to claim that the raid was carried out by an affiliate group, identified as 'Those who sign their names in blood'.

After dark, ANI quoted a militant source saying fighters had repelled a raid by Algerian troops. He added that the hostage-takers' weaponry included mortars and anti-aircraft missiles.

'We hold the Algerian government and the French government and the countries of the hostages fully responsible if our demands are not met and it is up to them to stop the brutal aggression against our people in Mali,' read one statement from the group.

The group's claim could not be independently substantiated.

A spokesman for the Katibat told the Sahara Media Agency that 41 Westerners of nine or 10 nationalities had been taken hostage, including seven Americans.

Five foreigners were being held in a factory, while 36 others were in living quarters at the plant, claimed the spokesman, who said the action was carried out in retaliation for Algeria allowing France to use its airspace to carry out raids on northern Mali.

Britain has provided two RAF C-17 transport aircraft to support the operation as well as offering to share intelligence with Paris.

The In Amenas facility is jointly operated by BP, the Norwegian company Statoil and the Algerian state oil company Sonatrach.

BP said in a statement that there was 'an ongoing security incident' in the gas field, which was 'attacked and occupied by a group of unidentified armed people' at about 5am UK time.

'Contact with the site is extremely difficult, but we understand that armed individuals are still occupying the In Amenas operations site,' the statement said.

 

'Our absolute priority is the safety and security of our staff. We do not yet have confirmed information on the status of personnel at the site but believe some are being held by the occupiers.'

Statoil said that it had 20 employees in the facility. The Norwegian Newspaper Bergens Tidende reported that a 55-year-old Norwegian working on the site called his wife to say he was among the hostages.

The Japanese government said Japanese employees working for a company which supplies services to the site may also have been kidnapped.

The attack happened as EU foreign ministers were preparing to meet tomorrow in Brussels to discuss plans to send a 400-strong military training mission to Mali.