Algerian gas plant

Well put, Jingl. It must be dreadful.

Is anyone else really terrified with the thought that al qaeda now seems to be rife in North Africa? Just when our men are (hopefully) about to pull out of Afghanistan. Surely we haven't got another lot coming up?

My heart goes out to the families of the hostages who are still unaccounted for. J0 has put into words what they must be thinking. Terrifying.

That Al Quaeda or its spawn is in the Maghreb and, indeed, also in the Horn of Africa is nothing new. Military action will not be the way forward – as evidenced by Aghnistan – and I, for one, am concerned about what the French are doing in Mali.

Those taken hostage in Algeria, whether remaining in captivity, apparently wearing belts of explosives, or having escaped from the compound must be suffering a level of terror that is beyond imagination.

I just wonder if the Algerian government's priority is rescuing the hostages or putting a stop to Mokhtar Belmokhtar who has been a thorn in their side. Negotiation does not seem to be uppermost in their minds.

Apparently our SAS is all set to go in! If they could just go and take out Mokhtar (?what absent said) and leave it at that, but it's going to escalate!

Yes, and it may well escalate onto the streets of Paris and London.

Looks as if it has been cleaned up with a minimal loss of life among the hostages. Of course any death among them is sad and a death too many but given the size of the problem, the Algerian government seems to have done a remarkably efficient job with more than 100 foreigners (i.e. non-Algerians) rescued. The Jihadists appear to have been wiped out which I suspect was always the plan – the government was very ruthless about their predecessors throughout the civil war in the 1990s.

David Cameron faffing and posing can now stop. His colonial attitude towards the Algerian government was anything but impressive except to Little Englander Tories on the extreme right. He can go off to the Netherlands and give his long trailed speech about the EU and a referendum. As far as I am concerned, he can stay there as well as he strikes me as being damaging to the country while somehow simultaneously being ineffectual. Quite an achievement.

I've think there will be more Jihadists in the vicinity to take their place. And the number of firearms they had in their possession is worrying. There's more to come I fear.

An awful development in the terrorism world.

DC's speech pales to insignificance.

DC's speech was always insignificant. Almost certainly there are more Jihadists in the region – most of that lot seem to have come from Mali in the first place. However, it is a setback in terms of income for them. The Brit government doesn't pay ransom but lots of other Western governments, including I think but am not sure, the USA, have in the past few years which is why they can afford such an armoury. That and increase in security at such sites could make quit a difference.