Algeria still pursuing 'terrorists' as gas plant

The Algerian army is still pursuing "terrorists" at the Algerian gas plant and still searching for hostages at the site, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday. Cameron told parliament the first stage of the military operation was complete, "but this is a large and complex site and they are still pursuing terrorists and possibly some of the hostages in other areas of the site". Britain's Foreign Office said earlier hostages were still being held at the remote In Amenas gas field after a deadly rescue bid An Algerian security source said some of the hostage-takers were still holed up in the main gas production facility after troops seized a nearby housing compound in an air and ground assault on Thursday. Algerian Communications Minister Mohamed Said said the assault freed a "large number" of hostages, but news reports from Algiers said nearly 600 of those rescued were Algerian workers. Of the 41 foreigners the militants had said they were holding, just a handful were released, the reports said. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said the "terrorist incident" is still ongoing, adding: "It seems like there are hostages still held and it could be that some of them are British.". The Islamist militants had seized hundreds of hostages at the field deep in the Sahara on Wednesday, purportedly to avenge a French-led offensive in neighbouring Mali. Algerian officials said soldiers were still surrounding the site's main gas facility, which was yet to be secured. Japan's foreign ministry summoned the Algerian ambassador to demand an explanation why they had received no prior notice of the commando raid as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cut short a visit to Indonesia to deal with the crisis. Japanese plant builder JGC said it had confirmed the safety of three of its Japanese staff and one Filipino employee, but the whereabouts of 74 other staff, 14 of them Japanese, remained unknown. Two British hostages were reported freed but as many as 20 more were reported unaccounted for. London said it feared the worst, as Cameron cancelled a planned keynote speech on Europe. "The prime minister has advised we should be prepared for bad news," the Foreign Office said recalling that one Briton had already been confirmed dead in the original hostage-taking. Norway's Statoil, which operates the field along with British oil giant BP and Algerian energy firm Sonatrach, said eight Norwegian staff remained unaccounted for, while a ninth was safe but had been wounded. France said two of its nationals had returned safe but that it had no word on two others reported to have been among the hostages. One man from Northern Ireland escaped. According to his brother, Stephen McFaul fled when the convoy in which he was travelling came under fire from the army, and had earlier "had explosives tied around his neck." The kidnappers said 34 captives had died in the assault, but this was impossible to confirm. They told Mauritanian news agency ANI they would "kill all the hostages if the Algerian forces succeed in entering the complex". An Algerian security source described death toll given by the militants as "fantasy". A senior US official said Washington "strongly encouraged" the authorities to make the hostages' safety their top priority. A US plane landed at the field's airport on Friday, Algeria's privately owned Ennahar TV reported. The Japanese government said the army assault was "regrettable" and that it was receiving no clear information from on the ground as Algerian officials maintained a public silence on Friday. The British prime minister was not given prior warning of the Algerian army offensive, and would have preferred to have been consulted, his spokesman said. The chief hostage taker, Abu al-Baraa, had told Al-Jazeera television: "We demand the Algerian army pull out from the area to allow negotiations." But Algeria insisted it would not negotiate with "terrorists". The International Energy Agency said the hostage raid put a "dark cloud" over oil and gas supplies from the North African producer as world prices turned higher in Asian trade. Algerian gas deliveries to Italy fell by 17 percent after production was halted at In Amenas, a spokesman for Italian transport group Snam said on Thursday. The hostage drama dragged Algiers and Western powers into the Mali conflict, taking the spotlight off French and government troops battling the Islamists in control of the country's vast desert north. The Malian army has retaken the central of Konna, which had fallen to Islamists advancing from the north and sparked French military intervention, the military and a regional security source said on Friday. The UN special envoy for the Sahel, Romano Prodi, said the French air and ground intervention in Mali was the only way to stop Islamists creating "a terrorist safe haven in the heart of Africa." On Thursday, more French troops poured into Mali, boosting their number to 1,400, Paris said. At full strength the force will reach 2,500 soldiers.