Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Algeria has come under harsh criticism for its failure to
rescue hostages held by Al Qaida at a major natural gas facility.

Diplomats said countries with nationals held hostage at the gas facility
near Algeria’s border with Libya failed to be consulted by the North African
state before the Army attack on Al Qaida Organization in the Islamic
Maghreb.

They said the government was issuing false reports while the Army
was blowing up jeeps that contained hostages at Ein Amenas, the largest liquefied natural gas facility in Algeria.

“I have just spoken to the foreign minister of Algeria to impress upon
him the continued need for accurate and up-to-date information and to give us all the assistance possible on the ground in Algeria,” British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Jan. 19.

Diplomats said the Algerian Army stormed suspected AQIM positions
without taking into account the safety of as many as 40 foreign hostages. They said AQIM, led by Abdul Rahman Al Nigeri, allowed 600 Algerian hostages to escape while killing dozens of foreign employees at Ein Amenas.

“We fear that over the next few days we will receive bad news,” Statoil
chief executive officer Helge Lund, whose employees were at Ein Amenas, said. “People we have spoken to describe unbelievable, horrible experiences.”

Algeria was also said to have refused appeals by Britain, France, Japan
and the United States to participate in the hostage rescue. The diplomats
said the regime of President Abdul Aziz Bouteflika also sharply limited
reconnaissance air operations by the United States.

Witnesses said Algerian commandos made little to no effort to extricate
hostages from their AQIM captors. They said jeeps filled with hostages were
bombed by special forces to kill Al Qaida fighters, believed to include
Egyptians, Libyans and Tunisians.

“The action of Algerian forces was regrettable,” Japanese Cabinet
Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.

On Jan. 19, the Algerian Army said it killed the last AQIM fighters at
Ein Amenas, which produces 33 percent of gas imports by the European Union.
A government statement said 23 hostages and 32 Al Qaida fighters were
killed.

“To avoid a bloody turn of events in response to the extreme danger of
the situation,” the Algerian Interior Ministry said, “the army’s special
forces launched an intervention with efficiency and professionalism to
neutralize the terrorist groups that were first trying to flee with the
hostages and then blow up the gas facilities.”

  Abdul Aziz Bouteflika, Abdul Rahman Al Nigeri, Al Qaida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, Algeria under fire after rescue op led to ‘horrible’ outcome, Ein Amenas natural gas facility, William Hague