Algeria Hostage Crisis: Grim News That Can Be Traced to the ‘Triumphant’ Removal of Gaddafi
THE INDEPENDENT: Gaddafi’s overthrow broke all kinds of local ethnic, tribal and commercial bargains and power-broking arrangements that we never understood

“Take but degree away, untune that string, and hark what discord follows.”

This Jacobean plea for stability should be ringing in our ears as we watch the latest manifestation of instability in the Middle East/North Africa (Mena), this time in Algeria. And while much of the Arab Spring was self-generated, current troubles in the Sahel owe a great deal to the Nato “triumph” in assisting in the downfall of Gaddafi. » | Jonathan Shaw* | Thursday, January 17, 2013

* Maj Gen Jonathan Shaw was Chief of Staff of UK Land Forces between 2007 and 2008. He joined the Parachute Regiment in 1981 and went on to serve in the Falklands, Kosovo and Iraq before joining the MoD

Algeria Hostage Crisis: Bloody Climax to the Battle for the Desert Gas Plant
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Islamist extremists "executed" seven hostages on Saturday before a final, bloody assault by the Algerian army ended a four-day siege in the desert.

Algeria's special forces stormed the gas complex, jointly run by BP and staffed by many British workers, after reports that the extremists had begun shooting foreigners they had kidnapped.

William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, said five Britons and one UK resident, called Carlos Estrada, remained "unaccounted for" and the country had to “prepare for bad news”. One Briton had already been confirmed dead on Wednesday.

BP said last night that four of its employees were still missing several hours after a dramatic firefight inside the gas plant which left more than 30 terrorists dead. The Algerian foreign ministry said that during the course of four days 23 hostages and 32 militants had been killed. » | Robert Mendick, Patrick Sawer and Harriet Alexander | Saturday, January 19, 2013