Huge Sahara hostage siege turns Mali war global

Governments around the globe were holding emergency meetings to respond to one of the biggest international hostage crises in decades, which sharply raises the stakes over a week-old French campaign against rebels  in neighboring Mali.

A group calling itself the “Battalion of Blood” says 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.

The attackers have demanded an end to the French military campaign in Mali, where hundreds of French paratroops and marines are launching a ground offensive against rebels in a campaign that began a week ago with air strikes ,according to Reuters.

“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.

Another hostage, identified as British, spoke to another media 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.

“There are around 150 Algerian hostages. 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 said: “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.

The precise number and nationalities of foreign hostages could not be confirmed, with countries perhaps reluctant to release information that could be useful to the captors.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed one Briton had been killed and “a number” of other British citizens were being held. Algerian media said an Algerian was killed in the assault. Another local report said a Frenchman had died.

The militants said seven Americans were among their hostages – a figure U.S. officials said they could not confirm. Norwegian oil company Statoil said nine of its Norwegian staff and three Algerian employees were captive. Japanese media said five workers from Japanese engineering firm JGC Corp. were held. France has not confirmed whether any French citizens were held.

“This is a dangerous and rapidly developing situation,” Britain’s Hague told reporters in Sydney. “The safety of those involved and their co-workers is our absolute priority, and we will work around the clock to resolve this crisis.”

R.S