BP: non-essential employees taken out of Algeria

said on Thursday that they have discharged a number of its non-essential employees working in Algeria after the recent kidnapping incident in southern Algeria at an oil refinery in Ain Amnas. BP said in a statement on its website that extensive contacts with Algerian authorities and British authorities are made to assess the security situation and to take any necessary procedures for the safety of its employees. BP said "as a precautionary measure, staged plans are underway to bring a group of non-essential workers out of Algeria." Earlier, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that his country is ready to provide support to the Algerian authorities and to end the hostage situation in the refinery. An armed group linked to Al-Qaeda terrorist organization seized the facility in Southeastern Algeria, taking more than three-dozen foreign nationals hostage.