Middle East Live - One American dead in Algerian hostage crisis

One American dead in Algerian hostage crisis, AP reports - as it happened

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10.05pm GMT

We're going to wrap up our live blog coverage of the ongoing hostage crisis in Algeria. Here's a summary of where things stand:

• An unknown number of hostages and captors remain at the gas facility outside In Amenas. The number of those killed and wounded since Wednesday also is unknown. The official Algerian news service reported Friday that 12 hostages had been killed in all, but such tolls have fluctuated a lot since the incident was first reported.

• US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US was "deeply concerned about those who remain in danger." A state department spokeswoman said the United States would not negotiate with terrorists. The Associated Press reported that Americans are among the hostages who remain at the site.

• The AP reported that one American was among the dead. The French foreign minister said a French national had also been killed. The British prime minister's office has declined to discuss the number of Britons involved.

• Algerian forces have freed about 100 of the 132 foreigners who were taken hostage in a gas facility in the Algerian desert, a security source told Reuters.

• Western governments said they were in close touch with Algiers. An American transport plane reportedly ferried some American citizens away from the remote site. The nature of any future plans for a military operation at the site – possibly collaborative – is unclear. US defense secretary Leon Panetta said the militants "will have no place to hide."

• Hostages gave accounts of the attack, saying they hid in the facility until the commotion of the Algerian military operation allowed them to escape. Hostages reported "many deaths.".