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Titus Corlatean: We decided to maintain permanent contact with ministers with direct interest in Algeria situation
Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Titus Corlatean said on Thursday after the extraordinary meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in Brussels that he held talks with several ministers directly interested in the dramatic events in Algeria, with whom they decided to maintain a permanent contact regarding the hostages situation.
The Romanian Chief Diplomat said that the authorities in Bucharest knew that there was an unknown number of Romanian hostages in Algeria 'long before the information should go public.' 'What should be known is that from the first moment we got this information, and of course there was an inter-institutional communication to the highest level in the Romanian state, PM, President and other state institutions, the Romanian authorities committed to a multilateral effort with more partners to be able to manage as good as possible this dramatic evolution,' said Titus Corlatean.
Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the Romanian authorities are in permanent contact with the Algerian counterparts as well as with the other interested partners. 'Today's meeting was a very good opportunity to have direct talks with several ministers directly interested in the dramatic events in Algeria and we decided to maintain a permanent contact with several of them regarding the extremely dynamic evolutions that unfold right now, to see how we can reach a solution, a happy solution we hope, for the kidnapped, the Romanian included,' he added.
Titus Corlatean refused to say how many Romanian hostages there are and recommended the press a lot of caution in issuing information about the evolutions regarding hostage taking. 'We recommended MAE and other institutions and I asked the Romanian media to be cautious regarding the comments till this situation is dealt with and until we reach a solution, and I will continue to do this. I will say this because we were asked about the events unfolding and I recommend everyone to be cautious until we have confirmed and verified information,' said the Romanian Chief Diplomat.
Hostages held in Algeria, among whom Romanian nationals, included, multinational corporation employees
The hostages held at In Amenas gas facility, among whom Romanian nationals, included, are employees of a multinational corporation, Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) Secretary General Robert Cazanciuc told a press conference on Thursday.
'Yesterday morning, the Romanian Embassy in Alger informed the MAE central office on the conduct of some armed-type activities in the eastern region of Algeria, at the border with Libya, where there is an oil facility operated by a multinational company. According to the data supplied by the Algerian authorities and the diplomatic missions accredited in Alger, there was an unknown number of hostages from various states, among which Romania,' Robert Cazanciuc said, without specifying whether there were several Romanians among hostages.
The company's employees are held hostage by the initiators of the armed attack, Cazanciuc also said.
'Following the information received from Alger, MAE decided to setup a crisis unit in permanent contact with the Romanian authorities in charge,' the MAE official underscored.
Romania's Embassy in Alger is part of a monitoring group setup at the level of diplomatic missions accredited in Alger. The Algerian Ambassador in Bucharest was convened at the MAE headquarters to establish the most appropriate cooperation methods.
Romania is mentioned among the countries of origin of some of the over 40 hostages captured on Wednesday in Algeria as a backlash to the air and land French military intervention against the Islamic strongholds in Mali, AFP reports on Thursday, quoting one of the kidnappers.
The kidnapper, presented under the pseudonym of Abou al-Baraa, maintained that the number of hostages stood at about 41 and they came from 12 countries: Norway, France, US, UK, Romania, Colombia, Thailand, the Philippines, Ireland, Japan, South Korea and Armenia.
Abou al-Baraa pointed that the group was in contact with its leaders in Mali and that its main claim was a prisoner exchange.
The group he belongs to, called 'The ones who sign in blood,' claimed they held the hostages in an announcement released on Alakhbar website of Mauritania.
The captives, mostly Occidentals, were kidnapped at In Amenas gas field, in eastern Algeria, exploited by BP British Group, Statoil Norwegian Company and Sonatrach Algerian Company.
The kidnappers on Thursday demanded the withdrawal of the Algerian Army who had circled the plant, to enable the negotiation conduct.
Presidency: Traian Basescu, informed yesterday about hostage situation, keeps in touch with crisis cell
Presidency spokesperson Bogdan Oprea says Head of State Traian Basescu was informed on Wednesday about the hostage situation in Algeria, pointing out that he keeps permanently in touch with the crisis cell created at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE).
'President Traian Basescu was informed yesterday about the kidnapping situation in Algeria. The Presidential Administration keeps a permanent touch with the crisis cell created at MAE, and President Basescu is informed permanently about the situation of the hostages,' said Oprea in a statement sent on Thursday.
Algerian Ambassador was summoned at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest to talk about the situation of hostages in Algeria, announced MAE general secretary Robert Cazanciuc on Thursday, saying that a crisis cell was created at MAE after the Algerian authorities confirmed that Romania is among the states where the hostages come from.
The Romanian Embassy in Alger is part of a monitoring group created among several diplomatic missions accredited in Alger. The Algerian Ambassador in Bucharest was called at MAE to decide on the most proper forms of cooperation.