A worker at the Zarzaitine gas field in Ain Amenas. Algeria’s energy minister says the country has ‘the necessary means to secure its energy facilities’.
A worker at the Zarzaitine gas field in Ain Amenas. Algeria’s energy minister says the country has ‘the necessary means to secure its energy facilities’.
A worker at the Zarzaitine gas field in Ain Amenas. Algeria’s energy minister says the country has ‘the necessary means to secure its energy facilities’.
A worker at the Zarzaitine gas field in Ain Amenas. Algeria’s energy minister says the country has ‘the necessary means to secure its energy facilities’.

Algeria to tighten plant security


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Algeria is to increase security at its oil and gas installations, after last week's terrorist attack and the military assault that left 85 dead and exposed the increased threat from Al Qaeda in North Africa.

After the final Algerian special-forces assault on the remote Saharan Ain Amenas facility on Saturday, authorities said at least 23 hostages and 32 militants had been killed.

On Monday, security forces found about 30 additional bodies, believed to be those of Algerian and foreign hostages, according to Al Watan newspaper.

Algeria's energy minister, Youcef Yousfi, said the nation had "the necessary means to secure its energy facilities", the state-run Algeria Press Service reported.

"We are going to strengthen security and we rely first on our means and resources."

Foreign forces would not be used, he added.

The US president, Barack Obama, and the British prime minister, David Cameron, said the attack underlined the threat posed by militant groups in North Africa.

Militants belonging to Al Mulathameen - which is headed by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a one-eyed Algerian militant, and has links to Al Qaeda - claimed responsibility for the attack.

The group said its assault was prompted by the arrival last week of French forces seeking to block Islamist militants from taking control of neighbouring Mali.

In a statement published on Mauritania's private ANI news agency yesterday, Al Mulathameen also warned of further attacks against any country backing the French military action in Mali.

While the Algerian authorities have yet to provide a full account of what took place and who died, some countries have confirmed their casualty details.

The dead hostages included six Filipinos, three Britons, two Romanians, five Norwegians, an American and a Frenchman.

Five people were still said to be missing yesterday, including four BP employees. The company said it as "gravely concerned" about the workers.

Mr Cameron yesterday compared the terrorist threat in North Africa to that in Afghanistan and said it would require "years, even decades" to resolve.

Britain would use its chairmanship of the Group of Eight industrialised countries to seek a joint response, he said.

Survivors yesterday continued to give their harrowing, first-hand accounts of the chaotic and terrifying scenes inside the plant during the siege.

An Algerian engineer called Tahar told Le Soir d'Algerie newspaper of masked gunmen dressed in military uniforms, and of hostages forced to wear explosives around their necks.

Algeria's energy minister, Yousef Al Yousefi, visited the gas plant on Monday and said the physical damage was limited.

"Once the damage is assessed, we will replace the equipment hit" and determine when the plant would be able to resume operating, he said. Workers expected to restart equipment within days, he added.

Algerian troops first attempted a rescue last Thursday, a day after the terrorists attacked the complex.

The Algerian interior ministry said the attack began when gunmen attacked a bus carrying 19 foreigners to an airport.

Security staff fought off the assault with the loss of one of their men and a British passenger.

The gunmen then attacked the gas plant itself, three kilometres away, and started taking hostages.

"The priority of preserving lives, the risks linked to the nature of gas facilities, the configuration of the site, and the menace that weighed on the hostages made the intervention of the National Popular Army very complex," the ministry said.

Paatal Lok season two

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THE CLOWN OF GAZA

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It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

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Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
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Lebanon is scheduled to host the fourth Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in January that will see regional leaders gather to tackle the challenges facing the Middle East. The last such summit was held in 2013. Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki told The National that the Beirut Summit “will be an opportunity for Arab leaders to discuss solely economic and social issues, the conference will not focus on political concerns such as Palestine, Syria or Libya". He added that its slogan will be “the individual is at the heart of development”, adding that it will focus on all elements of human capital.

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The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

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Sole survivors
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Results

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Group B
Results

Zimbabwe tied with Scotland
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RESULT

Valencia 3

Kevin Gameiro 21', 51'

Ferran Torres 67'

Atlanta 4

Josip Llicic 3' (P), 43' (P), 71', 82'