A kidnapper who presented himself as Abu al-Baraa, stated Thursday for a Al-Jazeera TV station, that there was a Romanian among the 41 hostages in Algeria.
Abu al-Baraa ensured the TV station of Qatar that the hostages originated from 11 countries which were: Norway, France, USA, Great Britain, Romania, Columbia, Thailand, the Philippines, Ireland, Japan and Germany.
The kidnappers require the retreat of the Algerian Army who surrounded the gas exploitation complex, to allow the beginning of negotiations, he stated for Al-Jazeera.
UPDATE 17:33 – According to journalist Radu Tudor there would be 2 Romanian citizens kidnapped, not one. Both of them allegedly work for British Petroleum through the intermediation of a specialized recruiting company in Romania. The liberation and annihilation operations are conducted by the Algerian army with the support of two major secret service, MI6 (Britain) and the DGSE (France).
UPDATE 17:16 -. The four foreign hostages released Thursday by the Algerian army are two British soldiers, a Kenyan and a French, the Algerian APS agency reports , cited by AFP. Previously, APS announced that Algerian troops have freed four foreign hostages in an operation launched by the Algerian army.
UPDATE 16:45 - Islamic sources say that no Romanian is no longer on the hostages list in Algeria.
UPDATE 16:20 - Two Americans, three Belgians, a Japanese and a British are still hostage after the intervention of the Algerian Air Force, sources said quoted by the Mauritanian agency ANI, Mediafax reports. The information about the remaining number of hostages is contradictory. According to Al Jazeera, 35 hostages and 15 kidnappers have been killed in the Algerian air raid.
UPDATE 16:11 – Six foreign hostages and eight kidnappers have been killed in the raid of the Algerian Air Force targeting the gas complex Amenas in Algeria, and 180 hostages, all Algerians would have escaped, sources quoted by BBC News online state.
UPDATE 16:37 - UK confirms that there is a military operation in eastern Algeria Amenas complex, where dozens of Western hostages are held, BBC News Online informs.
UPDATE 15:15- Among the terrorists killed in the Algerian army air attacks is also Abu al-Baraa, leader of the group.
UPDATE 15:05- 25 foreign hostages were released, inform Sky News. Over 30 hostages and 15 kidnappers were killed in the Algerian army air raids, while the terrorists were trying to move the hostages from a building to another, Reuters reports.
UPDATE 15:00- The Algerian army opened fire on the gas complex operation, a group source said for Mauritania Nouakchott Information Agency (ANI), AFP reports. The Algerian army helicopters opened fire on the compound where the hostages are being held, of which at least two were injured.
UPDATE 14:41- Fifteen foreigners, including a French couple who were held hostage by Islamists in a gas plant in Algeria, managed to escape, the private Algerian station Ennahar announced.
UPDATE 14:30- Two Algerian army helicopters have launched attacks on the kidnappers, according to Reuters.
UPDATE 14:15- MFA confirms that among the countries with citizens held hostage in the events in Algeria there are Romanian also, according to the Algerian authorities, and announced that the Algerian ambassador in Bucharest was convened to determine the best form of cooperation.
President Traian Băsescu was informed Wednesday of the situation of kidnappers in Algeria
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to convene a crisis group, which is in permanent contact with the Romanian competent authorities.
UPDATE 13:15- Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ovidiu Dranga, stated for Mediafax that his institution was checking the information about the kidnapping of a Romanian in Algeria.
An armed Islamist group asserted Wednesday the massive hostage kidnapping in a gas exploitation compound in Algeria, calling for the “the stop of the aggression” in Mali, according to a statement published on the website of Mauritanian Alakhbar, which regularly publishes jihadist statements , according to AFP.
The kidnappers, who are members of a group within Al-Qaeda attacked the Amenas complex in center-eastern Algeria, near the Libyan border, about 1,300 kilometers from Algiers, operated by the British group BP, Norway's Statoil and Algerian Sonatrach.
A British and an Algerian were killed during the attack, Algerian authorities announced. Three Westerners and three Algerians were injured.
Several Westerners were taken hostage, while another 150 employees of the French group CIS Catering are also retained in the complex.
Thirty Algerian hostages managed to escape from the gas plant premises Thursday, where they were taken hostage, starting Wednesday morning announced Wilaya of Illizi.
The remaining hostages are required to wear belts with explosives.