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TERRORISM

Norway fears for workers missing in Algeria

One Norwegian worker was brought to safety overnight, after Norway said on Thursday it had no news on nine of its nationals working at a remote gas plant in Algeria where dozens of captives were killed in a military assault on Islamist hostage takers.

"We are still lacking reliable information concerning nine people", Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said.

That number dropped to eight after Norwegian oil group Statoil revealed one of its workers had made it to safety and was being treated in an Algerian hospital for minor injuries. 

Twelve employees of Statoil, which operates the gas field with BP and state-run Algerian energy firm Sonatrach, were earlier reported "involved" in the hostage taking.

Stoltenberg said it was too early to judge the Algerian operation to free dozens of hostages from various countries who were seized by Islamists at the In Amenas gas field in retaliation for a French offensive in Mali.

At a separate press conference, Statoil chief Helge Lund said eight other employees — Norwegian and Algerian — who had been at or around the site at the time of the hostage taking, were safe.

BP and Statoil will evacuate "non-essential" staff from its other sites in Algeria, Lund said.

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TERRORISM

Italian police arrest Algerian wanted for alleged IS ties

Police in Milan said on Thursday they had arrested a 37-year-old Algerian man in the subway, later discovering he was wanted for alleged ties to Islamic State.

Italian police arrest Algerian wanted for alleged IS ties

When stopped by police officers for a routine check, the man became “particularly aggressive”, said police in Milan, who added the arrest took place “in recent days”.

He was “repeatedly shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ while attempting to grab from his backpack an object that turned out to be a knife with a blade more than 12cm (nearly five inches) long,” they said in a statement.

The man was later found to be wanted by authorities in Algeria, suspected since 2015 of belonging to “Islamic State militias and employed in the Syrian-Iraqi theatre of war,” police said.

Police said the suspect was unknown to Italian authorities.

The man is currently in Milan’s San Vittore prison and awaiting extradition, they added.

Jihadist group IS proclaimed a “caliphate” in 2014 across swathes of Syria and Iraq, launching a reign of terror that continues with hit-and-run attacks and ambushes.

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