(Reuters)
BARGAINING CHIPS: Terrorists want blind Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman (left) freed in exchange for two Americans following the escape yesterday of some hostages, including these survivors. (
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Trapped terrorists made a bizarre offer to end the 3-day-old Sahara showdown: We’ll trade the blind sheik for US hostages.
The lives of two Americans seized in a brazen attack on a remote Algerian gas plant would be spared in return for the release from federal prisons of Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and a fellow terrorist.
The United States immediately rejected the offer from the al Qaeda-linked Battalion of Blood and its leader, Mokhtar Bemoktar.
“The United States does not negotiate with terrorists,” said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.
Abdel-Rahman was convicted in 1995 of plotting to blow up New York City landmarks and was implicated in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He is serving a life sentence in North Carolina.
Bemoktar, who is believed to have masterminded the Algerian plant seizure, also wants to free Aafia Siddiqui, a US-trained neuroscientist who was convicted two years ago of shooting GIs and FBI agents in Afghanistan.
She had bombmaking instructions and a list of New York landmarks, such as the Brooklyn Bridge, in her purse when she was arrested.
The strange offer came as US officials said one American worker at the gas complex had been found dead. They said it was unclear how Frederick Buttaccio had died.
A family friend of the Houston-area native declined to comment.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta vowed to track down those responsible for the attack and said they had “no place to hide.”
“Terrorists should be on notice that they will find no sanctuary, not in Algeria, not in North Africa, not anywhere,” he said.
Algerian forces launched a sweep of the sprawling complex yesterday in an effort to locate about 30 remaining hostages, including two Americans, and as many as 10 armed kidnappers.
The Algiers government said 12 foreign workers had been killed, but 100 others were freed. Initial reports said only about 40 foreigners were on the site. Algeria also said 573 of their own citizens had escaped or been freed.
Some of those who escaped told of hiding under beds or other remote spaces. Others said they saw the kidnappers wrap Semtex explosives around the necks or bodies of hostages and use them as human shields.
“I stayed hidden for 40 hours,” said Alexandre Berceaux, a French caterer who was in his bedroom Wednesday morning when the heavily armed terrorists attacked.
“I was under my bed, and I put planks around it just in case,” Berceaux said.
He added that colleagues sneaked food to him and that he opened his door when they said a secret password.
“I was completely isolated,” Berceaux said. “I was afraid. I could see myself ending up in a pine box.”
A freed Algerian engineer said the terrorists broke down dormitory doors when they first attacked.
“They were shouting: ‘We’re only looking for the expatriates. The Algerians can leave!’ They rounded up the expats, they encircled them, they tied them up. They were all herded into a corner of the restaurant,” he told France Info radio.
“When they saw the Algerian army taking up position, they separated the hostages; the expats on one side, the Algerians taken to the foyer. Now we have no news of our expatriate colleagues. They used them as a shield.”
US officials kept in close contact with the Algiers government but gave no indication of how or when the desert standoff would end. The situation remains “difficult and dangerous,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.