Adrian Gatton

Tag: Terrorism

  • Colombian takes BP to court in UK over alleged complicity in kidnap and torture (The Guardian)

    Colombian takes BP to court in UK over alleged complicity in kidnap and torture (The Guardian)

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    Colombian takes BP to court in UK over alleged complicity in kidnap and torture
    By Mary Carson, Adrian Gatton, Rodrigo Vázquez and Maggie O’Kane
    The Guardian
    22 May 2015

    BP says it will defend unprecedented claim by trade union leader Gilberto Torres in case that spotlights role of big carbon in one of Colombia’s darkest periods

    A Colombian trade union leader is beginning an unprecedented claim for damages against BP in the high court in London, alleging the oil company’s complicity in his kidnap and torture 13 years ago.

    Read the rest of this story on The Guardian site here.

  • British hostage held by al-Qaeda in Algeria was shot by troops in failed rescue bid

    British hostage held by al-Qaeda in Algeria was shot by troops in failed rescue bid

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    Vehicles destroyed during the fatal convoy at In Amenas on Thursday 17th January 2013

    British hostage held by al-Qaeda in Algeria was shot by troops in failed rescue bid 

    By Robert Mendick, Adrian Gatton and Mark Olden
    The Sunday Telegraph
    14 September 2014

    An inquest into the In Amenas siege at a gas plant in Algeria will raise serious doubts over the safety of staff at the facility, part run by BP.

    At least one British hostage was killed by the Algerian military as it fought with al-Qaeda terrorists who had taken control of a gas plant in the Sahara desert, an inquest will hear this week.

    The inquest into the massacre at the In Amenas facility, which begins on Monday, will raise serious questions over Algeria’s handling of the hostage crisis. Seven British residents were killed during a four-day siege along with more than 30 other foreign hostages.

    The men were taken hostage when jihadists, led by the al-Qaeda linked terrorist Mokhtar Belmokhtar stormed the facility in January 2013. The incident was deeply embarrassing to the Algerian government because the plant was in a militariesd zone that should have been protected by the army.

    The inquest will also raise serious questions about security inside the camp which was run in a joint venture by BP, the Norwegian state oil company Statoil and the Algerian government owned Sonatrach.

    Read the rest of this story on The Sunday Telegraph site here.

  • Exclusive: Death in the desert – did a security man see it coming?

    Exclusive: Death in the desert – did a security man see it coming?

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    Exclusive: Death in the desert – did a security man see it coming?
    By Adrian Gatton and Mark Olden
    The Independent
    12 September 2013

    The man in charge of expat security at the Algerian gas facility seized by Islamic militants in January raised serious concerns about safety at the plant three days before he was killed in the attack, The Independent can reveal.

    Paul Morgan, a 46-year-old security expert from Liverpool, was the first of six Britons killed when al-Qa’ida-linked terrorists stormed the In Amenas gas facility, 30 miles from the Libyan border, on 16 January, taking dozens of foreign workers hostage.

    Speaking exclusively to The Independent, Mr Morgan’s partner Emma Steele, 37, said that he had grown increasingly frustrated in the months before the attack, which eventually left 40 workers dead. “He said he couldn’t do his job properly. His hands were totally tied,” she said.

    Three days before he was killed, Mr Morgan, who worked as security liaison at the facility, also told work colleagues that he could “no longer guarantee their safety” …

    Read the full-story here.