Algeria hostage crisis ends in bloodbath ALGERIAN troops have stormed a remote gas plant to end a hostage crisis

that kil led 23 foreigners and Algerians, seven of them executed by their Islamist captor s in a final military assault. Twenty-one hostages died during the siege that began when the al-Qa'ida-linked g unmen attacked the In Amenas facility deep in the Sahara desert at dawn on Wedne sday, the interior ministry said. Thirty-two kidnappers were also killed, and special forces were able to free "68 5 Algerian workers and 107 foreigners", it said. Among the dead were an unknown number of foreigners -- including from Britain, F rance, Romania and the US -- and many were still unaccounted for, including Japa nese. The kidnappers led by Algerian Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a former al-Qa'ida commander in North Africa, killed two people on a bus, a Briton and an Algerian, before ta king hundreds of workers hostage when they overran the gas plant. Digital Pass $1 for first 28 Days Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. Recommended Coverage BP Algeria hostages Islamists Relief for locals as hostage crisis over Amateur video shows aftermath of convoy attack in Algeria Algeria hostage crisis ends in bloodshed End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. Belmokhtar's "Signatories in Blood" group had been demanding an end to French mi litary intervention against jihadists in neighbouring Mali. In Saturday's assault, "the Algerian army took out 11 terrorists, and the terror ist group killed seven foreign hostages", state television said, without giving a breakdown of their nationalities. A security official who spoke to AFP as army helicopters overflew the plant gave the same death tolls, adding it was believed the foreigners were executed "in r etaliation". As experts began to clear the complex of bombs planted by the Islamists, residen ts of In Amenas breathed a collective sigh of relief. "We went from a peaceful situation to a terror situation," said one resident who gave his name as Fouad. "The plant could have exploded and taken out the town," said another. Brahim Zaghdaoui said he was not surprised by the Algerian army's ruthless final assault. "It was predictable that it would end like that," he said standing outside the t own's hospital, where coffins were seen arriving in the morning. Most of the hostages had been freed on Thursday when Algerian forces launched a rescue operation, which was widely condemned as hasty.

But French President Francois Hollande and US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta ref used to blame Algeria. The response by Algiers was "the most appropriate" given it was dealing with "co ldly determined terrorists ready to kill their hostages", said Mr Hollande. Mr Panetta added: "They are in the region, they understand the threat from terro rism ... I think it's important that we continue to work with (Algiers) to devel op a regional approach." British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the crisis had been "brought to an end by a further assault by Algerian forces, which has resulted in further loss of life". The deaths were "appalling and unacceptable and we must be clear that it is the terrorists who bear sole responsibility for it", he said. The hostage-taking was the largest since the 2008 Mumbai attack, and the biggest by jihadists since hundreds were killed in a Moscow theatre in 2002 and at a sc hool in the Russian town of Beslan in 2004, according to monitoring group IntelC enter. Foreign Secretary William Hague said a total of six British nationals and one re sident of Britain were either dead or unaccounted for. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan said he had received "severe information" abo ut 10 of his country's nationals who were still missing. The gunmen said on Friday that they were still holding "seven foreign hostages" -- three Belgians, two Americans, one Japanese and a Briton. However, Brussels said it had no indication any of its nationals were being held . Algeria was strongly criticised for launching Thursday's assault, which the kidn appers said had left dead 34 of the hostages and 15 of their own fighters. Belmokhtar also wanted to exchange American hostages for the blind Egyptian shei kh Omar Abdul Rahman and Pakistani Aafia Siddiqui, jailed in the US on charges o f terrorist links. At least one American had already been confirmed dead before Saturday's assault. But the State Department said "the United States does not negotiate with terrori sts". France, which said on Saturday that 2000 of the 2500 troops it had pledged were now on the ground in Mali, said that no more of its citizens were being held. Mr Hollande said French troops would stay in Mali as long as is needed "to defea t terrorism" in the West African country and its neighbours. Algerian news agency APS quoted a government official as saying the kidnappers, who claimed to have come from Niger, were armed with machineguns, assault rifles , rocket launchers and missiles. This was confirmed by an Algerian driver, Iba El Haza, who said the hostage-take rs spoke in different Arabic dialects and perhaps also in English. "From their accents I understood one was Egyptian, one Tunisian, another Algeria

n and one was speaking English or (another) foreign language," Mr Haza said afte r escaping on Thursday. "The terrorists said: 'You have nothing to do with this, you are Algerians and M uslims. We won't keep you, we only want the foreigners."' AFP