Iman Chairman condemns Islamist terrorism in Algeria

Cameron: North Africa terrorist threat 'could last decades'

20 January 2013

www.bbc.co.uk/news

David Cameron has warned the Algerian hostage crisis could be the start of a decades-long battle against Islamist terrorism in north Africa.

Three Britons are confirmed dead and three more are believed to have died after the Algerian army stormed the site at In Amenas on Saturday. Another UK resident is also thought to be dead.

One victim has been named as 46-year-old Paul Thomas Morgan.

Five hostage-takers were reported captured at the plant on Sunday.

The UK prime minister said the incident was a "stark reminder" of the terrorist threat in that part of the world and added: "This is a global threat and it will require a global response.

"It will require a response that is about years, even decades, rather than months."

"It requires a response that is patient and painstaking, that is tough but also intelligent, but above all has an absolutely iron resolve and that is what we will deliver over these coming years," added Mr Cameron.

The prime minister, who will make a statement about the events in Algeria in the Commons on Monday, said there were clear similarities with the terrorist threat from Afghanistan and Pakistan, although it was on a different scale.

"What we face is an extremist, Islamist, al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group. Just as we had to deal with that in Pakistan and in Afghanistan so the world needs to come together to deal with this threat in north Africa," he said.

"It is linked to al-Qaeda, it wants to destroy our way of life, it believes in killing as many people as it can. We need to work with others to defeat the terrorists and to close down the ungoverned spaces where they thrive with all the means that we have."

A raid by Algerian troops on Saturday ended a four-day siege in which at least 48 hostages are thought to have died.

There are reports that 25 bodies found at the complex on Sunday are all those of captives.

This comes a day after Algerian officials reported the deaths of 23 hostages, with more said to be unaccounted for, and 32 militants.

Algerian officials said the hostage-takers - from six different nationalities - belonged to a new Islamist group formed by a veteran Algerian militant and kidnapper, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who recently broke from al-Qaeda.

Mauritanian website Sahara Media says he has claimed responsibility for the hostage-taking in a video message.

He said the operation had been led by 40 migrants from "several Islamic countries, even from the Western countries".

One hostage - Alan Wright, 37, from Aberdeenshire - described hiding in an office when the Islamists attacked, before cutting through a fence and escaping.

The crisis began on Wednesday when militants attacked two buses carrying foreign workers and Algerians to the remote site in south-eastern Algeria. A Briton and an Algerian reportedly died at the scene.

The militants then took Algerians and foreign workers hostage at the complex, which was quickly surrounded by the Algerian army.

The Algerian armed forces staged an initial attack on Thursday as militants tried to move some of their captives from the facility.

Mr Cameron paid his condolences to the bereaved families, who had undergone "an absolutely dreadful ordeal".

He said questions would be asked about the Algerian response to the crisis, but added: "The responsibility for these deaths lies squarely with the terrorists who launched these vicious and cowardly attacks."

State news agency APS said 685 Algerian workers and 107 out of 132 foreigners working at the plant had been freed.

The nationalities of some of the hostages killed are still not known, but as well as the Britons, US, Norwegian, and Japanese nationals are also missing.

A Colombian citizen resident in the UK is believed to be among the dead.

The In Amenas gas field is situated at Tigantourine, about 40km (25 miles) south-west of the town of In Amenas and 1,300km (800 miles) south-east of Algiers.

The plant is jointly run by BP, Norway's Statoil and Algeria's state-owned oil company.

Algeria's oil minister Youcef Youcefi said the plant would return to production within the next two days.

Commenting on the killings, Ribal Al-Assad, Chairman of the Iman Foundation, said:

"I condemn these heinous and senseless terrorist acts. I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the victims and their families across the world, and to the Algerian people.

"I agree with UK Prime Minister David Cameron that we are facing an extremist, Islamist, al-Qaeda-linked terrorism and the world needs to come together to deal with this threat in north Africa as we did in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The same obviously applies to the Middle East, where Islamists are currently perpetrating terrorist attacks. All this is exactly what the Iman Foundation has been highlighting through its challenging extremism and sectarianism campaign.

"As well as challenging Islamist militants militarily, it is imperative that we challenge the ideology of Islamist extremists, which is a perversion of Islam, through intra-religious dialogue and by promoting mainstream voices in Islam. The international community must put this at the heart of its fight against Islamist extremism."