US expresses trust in Algeria’s ability to deal with 'terrorism'

Security officials have said troops are trying to reach a 'peaceful' end to the crisis More than 72 hours after heavily armed militants staged a deadly raid on Algeira's In Amenas complex and two days after Algerian special forces launched a botched rescue bid widely condemned as hasty - the situation has now appeared to be at a stand-off as armed gunmen were holed up with an unknown number of foreign hostages on Saturday, amid uncertainty over what the army was doing to free their captives.
On Friday, a security official said troops are trying to reach a "peaceful" end to the crisis, before "neutralising the terrorist group that is holed up in the plant and freeing a group of hostages still being held there."
US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland confirmed the death of an American citizen in the facility gas.  
In a brief statement on Friday evening, she said: "We can confirm the death of an American citizen, Frederick Botashiw during the kidnapping of hostages in Algeria," and expressed "sincere condolences to his family and friends.” Out of the respect for private life of the family, Nuland refused to give any “further comments."
Former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton said that "no one knows better than Algeria the ferocity of the terrorists."
Clinton said "the United States" is ready to strengthen its support for Algeria in the framework of the international struggle against "extremism and terrorism in the entire world," describing the status of the kidnapped in the oil facility as "a very difficult and dangerous."
Clinton also praised the experience of Algeria in its war on terrorism, saying that "Algeria has led a strong war against terrorists for a long period of time and through a significant loss of life."
In the same context, the Security Council condemned the attack on In Amenas oil facility in Algeria and detention of hundreds of Algerian and foreign hostages by members of a group led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, calling for member states for an "effective cooperation" with the Algerian government in order to bring to justice those responsible for this attack.
An official put the number of foreign hostages at 10, but more workers also remain unaccounted for, including at least 10 Japanese and eight Norwegians.
The gunmen, cited by Mauritania's ANI news agency, said they were still holding three Belgians, two Americans, one Japanese and a Briton, although Belgium said there was no indication that any of its nationals were being held.
Amid the virtual news blackout in Algiers, harshly criticised by the local media, world leaders were taking a tough stand on insisting that the remaining hostages be freed.
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said Washington would "take all necessary steps to protect our people" from the threat of al-Qaeda-affiliated militants in north Africa.
"Whether or not that involves assisting others with military operations, whether it involves developing in a cooperative way operations there, those are areas that I think remain to be decided," he told the BBC.
Panetta said Washington was "working around the clock" to secure the safe return of Americans, after at least one was confirmed dead.
A US official said a military aircraft had begun to help evacuate survivors, but gave no estimate of the number of US hostages.