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U.S. Charges Algerian in Deadly Gas Plant Attack U.S. Charges Algerian in Deadly Gas Plant Attack
(about 3 hours later)
An Algerian who the authorities say was the mastermind of the attack at an Algerian gas plant in January that left three Americans and dozens of other hostages and kidnappers dead has been charged by federal authorities in Manhattan and is being sought for prosecution here, officials said on Friday. The man who the authorities say masterminded the attack at an Algerian gas plant in January that killed three Americans and dozens of other hostages and kidnappers has been charged by federal prosecutors in Manhattan and is being sought, officials said on Friday.
The Algerian, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, later claimed responsibility for the attack in an online video. The man, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, an Algerian, later claimed responsibility for the attack in an online video.
Three hostage-takers who were involved in the siege and were later interviewed by United States law enforcement officers acknowledged their membership in a Qaeda group that Mr. Belmokhtar led, federal prosecutors in Manhattan said. The State Department has announced a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the location of Mr. Belmokhtar, who remains at large, according to the office of Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan.
The State Department had announced a $5 million reward for information leading to the location of Mr. Belmokhtar, who remains a fugitive, the authorities said. “Mokhtar Belmokhtar unleashed a reign of terror years ago, in furtherance of his self-proclaimed goal of waging bloody jihad against the West,” Mr. Bharara said.
“Mokhtar Belmokhtar unleashed a reign of terror years ago, in furtherance of his self-proclaimed goal of waging bloody jihad against the West,” Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, said. “Now we intend to bring Belmokhtar to justice, as charged.” He said Mr. Belmokhtar had brought “terror and blood” to the innocent victims of the Algerian hostage-taking, “and now we intend to bring Belmokhtar to justice, as charged.”
A criminal complaint filed in United States District Court charges Mr. Belmokhtar with eight counts, including conspiring to take hostages, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison or death, prosecutors said. George Venizelos, the head of Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New York office, said the charges described “a fanatical jihadist leading an extremist vanguard of an extremist ideology.”
A criminal complaint filed in United States District Court in Manhattan charges Mr. Belmokhtar with eight counts, including conspiring to take hostages, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, or death, if the government seeks it.
The charges are another example of the Obama administration’s policy of seeking to try suspected terrorists in civilian courts in the United States whenever feasible.
The government has said that Mr. Belmokhtar, who is 41 and lost an eye to shrapnel, was a leader of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and that he founded a new group last year called the Signers in Blood.
Mr. Belmokhtar, holding a machine gun, appeared in an online video in December and said in Arabic that his group would be “made up of our best mujahedeen, boys and young men, immigrants and supporters,” according to a translation contained in the government complaint. He later said his group was part of Al Qaeda.
On Jan. 16, the assault began on the internationally managed gas production complex near a remote town in southeastern Algeria called In Amenas.
Terrorists armed with AK-47s and rocket propelled grenade launchers attacked a bus carrying workers, and security vehicles escorting the bus, according to the complaint. Numerous workers at the complex were taken hostage, including citizens of the United States, Britain, Japan, Norway and other countries, the complaint continued.
The standoff ended on Jan. 19 when Algerian security services attacked the terrorists at the plant; in the end, at least 37 hostages and 29 kidnappers were killed, the authorities said.
Three hostage-takers who were detained by foreign authorities and later interviewed separately by United States law enforcement officers acknowledged being members of a Qaeda group, according to the complaint, which was signed by Special Agent Jessica E. Ulmer of the F.B.I.
Each of the three hostage-takers, when shown a photograph of Mr. Belmokhtar, identified him as the emir, or leader, of their group, the complaint noted.
Prosecutors also charged that in 2008, Mr. Belmokhtar and others working at his direction kidnapped two Western diplomats who were working in Niger as part of a United Nations mission. The victims were held for four months before they were released in Mali, Mr. Bharara’s office said.