Algeria attackers 'planned to take hostages to Mali'

The Algerian government says attackers who seized a gas plant planned to blow it up and flee to Mali with the hostages, 37 of whom are now known to have died. FULL STORY

• Algeria PM: Facility booby-trapped  
• Oil and gas industry reviews security
• 'Mr. Marlboro': Jihadist behind attack
• Hostage crisis over   | CNN Arabic
• Attack linked to Libya? | Watch  

  Count of hostage deaths in Algeria standoff rises to 37, prime minister says

  From Amir Ahmed, CNN

  January 21, 2013 -- Updated 1808 GMT (0208 HKT)
  

  Algeria PM: Facility booby-trapped

  STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • NEW: Britain's prime minister praises Algerian forces that ended hostage standoff
  • Two more Americans are confirmed among the dead in the Algeria attack
  • At least 37 hostages died in terrorist attack and raid on gas complex, Algeria says
  • The attackers came from northern Mali, an Algerian official says
  (CNN) -- At least 37 foreign hostages and an Algerian died in the terrorist seizure and ensuing special forces assault on an natural gas plant in Algeria, the country's prime minister said Monday.
  
  Five other hostages are missing from the In Amenas complex and could be dead, Prime Minister Abdul Malek Sallal said.
  Before Sallal's statement Monday, other countries and companies that employed foreign workers at the sprawling plant had confirmed a total of 29 hostage deaths.
  Among the dead were three Amercians, according to a senior U.S. administration official who confirmed two of the deaths Monday. One American had been previously confirmed as having died in the attack.
  The Algerian state-run news service APS said 29 militants also died in the standoff, which ended Saturday after four days when Algerian special forces stormed the complex for the second time to free hostages. The government said it did so because the militants were planning to blow up the installation and flee to neighboring Mali with hostages.
  Algeria hostage crisis over
  Balancing profits, security in Algeria
  Escaped hostage's family tells tale
  Libya's connection to hostage crisis
  "If it exploded, it could have killed and destroyed anything within 5 kilometers or further," Sallal said.
  The plant employed 790 people, including 134 foreign workers, Sallal said Monday.
  Read more: Bloody Algeria hostage crisis ends after 'final' assault, officials say
  The crisis began Wednesday when militants in pickup trucks struck a sprawling natural gas complex in In Amenas, gathered the Westerners who worked there into a group and tied them up.
  After taking control of the facility, the well-armed militants planted explosives throughout the complex, Sallal said.
  The military tried to negotiate with the militants, but their demands to release militants held prisoner in Algeria were deemed unreasonable, leading to intervention by special forces troops backed by the Algerian Air Force, Sallal said.
  Read more: Nations scramble to account for missing after Algeria hostage crisis
  At one point, the militants tried to flee the compound in vehicles that carried explosives and three or four hostages as human shields, Sallal said. At least two of the vehicles flipped and exploded during the attempt, he said.
  The attack involved months of planning and involved militants from eight countries -- Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Mali, Niger, Canada and Mauritania, according to APS.
  Sallal said the terrorist team that took the hostages had entered the country from northern Mali, where Malian and French authorities are battling Islamists who control the area.
  One-eyed veteran Islamist fighter Mokhtar Belmokhtar has claimed responsibility for the hostage-taking on behalf of his al Qaeda-linked group, according to Mauritania's Sahara Media news agency.
  He said it was in retaliation for Algeria allowing France to use its airspace to battle Islamist militants in Mali. But regional analysts believe the operation was too sophisticated to have been planned so quickly.
  The plant in eastern Algeria is run by the state oil company, in cooperation with foreign firms such as Norway's Statoil and Britain's BP -- and as such, employed workers from several foreign countries.
  Read more: Algerian forces seek 'peaceful' settlement of dramatic, deadly hostage crisis
  British Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday that the international effort to evacuate workers is complete and that offcials are turning their attention to gaining access to the plant and returning the bodies of the slain British hostages to Great Britain.
  Cameron also praised Algerian forces for their work in ending the crisis, and said they have no responsibility for the deaths that occurred as forces tried to regain control of the plant.
  "This would have been a most demanding task for security forces anywhere in the world, and we should acknowledge the resolve shown by the Algerians in undertaking it," Cameron said. "Above all, the responsibility for these deaths lies squarely with the terrorists."
  Here is the latest breakdown on the international hostages:
  Colombia
  Colombia's president said a citizen was presumed dead.
  France
  No known French hostages are unaccounted for, the defense ministry said.
  A man identified as Yann Desjeux died after telling French newspaper Sud Ouest that he and 34 other hostages were treated well. It was unclear what led to his death.
  Japan
  Ten Japanese remain unaccounted for, according to JGC, a Yokohama-based engineering firm. Japan is sending a second team that includes doctors to the scene of the standoff. Other government officials have been at the site since last week.
  Malaysia
  Three hostages were on their way back home, state media reported. There is a "worrying possibility" that another is dead while a fifth is unaccounted for, the agency said.
  Read more: Algeria attack may have link to Libya camps
  Norway
  Five Norwegians are missing, while eight are safe, according to the Norwegian Prime Minister.
  Philippines
  Six Filipinos are confirmed dead and four are missing, the nation's foreign affairs ministry said. In addition, 16 Filipinos are accounted for and confirmed alive, according to a ministry spokesman.
  Romania
  One Romanian lost his life while four others were freed, the country's foreign ministry said.
  United Kingdom
  Three British citizens were killed, the Foreign Office said Sunday. Three other British nationals and a UK resident are also "believed dead," according to British officials. The Foreign Office confirmed the name of one of the slain hostages, Garry Barlow, in a statement Monday.
  "Garry was a loving, devoted family man, he loved life and lived it to the full. He was very much loved by myself, his sons, mother and sister and the rest of his family and friends and will be greatly missed," the Foreign Office quoted his wife, Lorraine, as saying.
  Twenty-two other Britons who were taken hostage have safely returned home.
  United States
  At least three Americans are among the dead, The State Department has confirmed the death of one American, identified as Frederick Buttaccio, and a senior administration official confirmed the deaths of the other two. The names of those Americans have not been released.
  Six freed Americans left Algeria and one remained.
  Read more: Algeria attack may have link to Libya camps
  CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki contributed to this report.
• COPY http://edition.cnn.com