On 16 January 2013, militants linked to al-Qaeda stormed In Amenas gas plant in Algeria. Gunmen began the assault before dawn; by the end of the siege, several days later, 40 staff and at least 29 militants had been killed. Six of those murdered were British, among them Stephen Green who specialised in health, safety and environmental protection at the plant. In this exclusive article, his wife Belinda – who was in phone contact with Stephen during his ordeal – recalls her experience…

My husband, Stephen Green, was 47 years old when he was taken hostage and killed during a terrorist attack in Algeria. Most of us will have one life-changing event; what happened that day in 2013 was mine.

Stephen’s death was a very public event. In the intervening years there have been media references to what happened, but rarely will anyone I know ever ask me about it, or seem to want to talk about it with me. I have been meaning to tell my story for some time; now feels like the right time to do so.

Stephen and I first met in 1988. He took on the stepfather role with my two young boys. Stephen was a big and beautiful part of our life for more than 20 years, but he and I separated a couple of years before his death.

We were due to spend some of Christmas Day 2012 together, but at the last minute he had cancelled because his sister was coming to stay at his parents. I was upset about that, and so didn’t make time to see him as he wanted to the next day. I never had the opportunity to see him before he returned to Algeria at the beginning of January 2013, and of course I have never forgiven myself for that or for a multitude of other things that had been left unsaid and unresolved.

 

Stephen had recently taken up employment with BP, and was working at the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria which operated as part of a joint venture with the Norwegian firm Statoil, and the Algerian state company Sonatrach. On 16 January 2013, al-Qaeda-linked militants attacked the compound and a four-day siege ensued. More than 800 hostages were taken and 40 foreign nationals were killed, six of whom were British.

Just before 6am on 16 January I first became aware that there were problems. I had a text from Steve to tell me he was hiding in the staff canteen, with several other work colleagues, and that there was gunfire outside. I was waiting for my morning train to go to work. It may seem strange that I got on the train but I just thought it would all be over with, I thought the army were there sorting out whatever the problem was. I just didn’t think it was a serious and continued onwards to work, but on the train further texts revealed that one of his colleagues had been shot in the thigh. At that time I never considered this might be a terrorist attack.

I got into work just after 7am and opened up my computer checking the internet for information. There was absolutely no news on what was happening, but Steve’s texts were changing in tone so there was clearly something very serious going on. At 8am, the next text I received from Steve told me he had been captured. At this stage the seriousness of the situation was starting to hit home. I was stressed, emotional and disorientated; I found it difficult to focus and think. I had no idea what to do.

A work colleague suggested I call the Home Office. I did this and found an automated system in place. Due to the emotions I was experiencing, I had to redial several times because I found it hard to pay attention to the instructions set up on the system in relation to making contact with a relevant department.

I am not sure what I expected when I eventually got through to someone, a man, at the other end. He told me they were aware of a ‘disturbance’, but that information was sketchy. I remember becoming quite hysterical, telling him it was a little more than a disturbance, and Steve was in trouble. I felt powerless and wanted to come away with some sort of action plan. The voice on the end of the phone asked about the messages Steve had been sending. He suggested I contact BP to see if they had any other updates on the situation, and asked me not to respond to texts from Steve but to contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) if he made contact again.

 

I can understand why he might have said that but the reality is that of course I would respond to texts. I wouldn’t consider that the texts weren’t from Steve, and I couldn’t imagine how he would feel if I didn’t text back. Perhaps what would have been more appropriate advice would have been to convey the importance of not getting into difficult conversations with Steve.

When I put the phone down I realised I hadn’t been given a contact number or even a name of someone I could talk with. I felt that the person I spoke to wasn’t really taking me seriously. That morning there were ongoing struggles with the FCO up until midday, because I had to continue using the automated system, and relay my story to someone new each time. What would have made the difference would have been one person taking ownership of my calls, even if they couldn’t provide the answers to my questions; the most important thing to me and I am sure others who find themselves in similar situations, is having one person to communicate with. I have since been assured that the FCO will in future take ownership of such contacts and ensure individuals have a named person to speak with at the outset.

At around 9.30 am, I walked out of work to head home. At this stage, Steve had been captured by terrorists, he was telling me by text that explosives had been wrapped around his neck. He asked me to tell the FCO that the terrorists were asking them to tell the Algerian army to pull back, otherwise they would kill all the hostages.

On my way home, passing through Vauxhall on the train, there was a lot of smoke and blue lights whirring in the background and I wondered why, and in particular whether if it was another terrorist attack in London. Later, when I got home and turned on the news, I learnt that there had been a helicopter crash in Vauxhall, but still nothing on the news about In Amenas. The next texts I received from Steve made me feel that things were getting bleak.

My sister arrived around lunch-time, doing what she was good at: taking control, and communicating with the FCO representatives as and when texts came through. At some stage that afternoon she told me that the FCO were sending two hostage negotiators to the house. They had given her a code – apple – from which they could be identified when they arrived; I remember giggling, it was a momentary relief of tension when she mentioned how they would identify themselves. It seemed surreal, like something out of a movie.

 

Steve sent what was to be his last text just before 5pm, but I hadn’t realised or accepted at that point that it would be. I remained hopeful that he would text again, as clearly the terrorists had been encouraging him to send messages home.

A little after that text, two police men arrived at the house. Kevin and Gareth were both trained hostage negotiators and both senior policemen. Each had a role within their local police force in Surrey, managing different aspects of crime investigation, undertaking this additional role on an ad-hoc basis when required. They worked on call rotas working in pairs and where a potential event involved hostages, they would be brought in to communicate with, and diffuse, tensions with the captors at a moment’s notice. The aim being to bargain with them for the release of the hostages, or simply buying more time until other recovery plans could be put into place. I felt safe and I believed they would make everything better.

The policemen had brought equipment into the house which would enable them to record and respond to any possible communications between Steve and myself. They made clear that their placement was subject to sudden change, but most likely they would be in the house until the siege was over.

They became a constant feature at my home for the next 72 hours. They used a laptop to record fact-finding conversations they had with me in relation to Steve, asking me questions about the type of person Steve was, what he looked like and whether he had any distinguishing marks. They also asked if it was likely that he might challenge the terrorists if provoked. I remember saying that I thought this was very likely; Steve was never one for taking anything lying down. I now know from the Inquest that Steve had a moment where he did challenge them, refusing one of their commands to move from one area to another…

Some of what happened in those few days are a blur, as indeed were many of the days after I found out that Steve had been killed. Between bite-size sessions answering questions from Kevin and making numerous coffees, I kept myself busy cleaning the house (sometimes redoing what I had just cleaned), cooking (badly) and walking the dogs or going to the local store to buy food. There was heavy snow outside and it was bitterly cold, there was a weather warning for heavier snowfall.

 

When I wasn’t doing those things, I would spend time talking with Gareth and Kevin finding out about their work, their families – anything that could serve as a distraction to what was happening in our lives currently. Some of the stories they told in relation to their work made me laugh, and were very endearing. Some of their stories were sad, too. Laughing was better than crying, which I did when I thought of what might be happening to Steve. At that time I didn’t ever think of him not coming back.

Some of Gareth’s and Kevin’s role was taken up managing calls from my work, while managing the official calls that they had to make. They were in frequent contact with a BP family liaison officer, who kept us updated on any scant news she had. I remember how kind she was and many days later I got to meet with her. I can’t imagine that her role was anything but traumatic, but I appreciated her support.

I watched Sky news, trying to glean any bit of new information as it came out. This was where we were getting the bulk of our news, which was still was incredibly thin on the ground from both the BP liaison team and the FCO. Kevin was getting concerned that I was becoming too stressed and frequently and kindly suggested that I turn the TV off for a while. At that point I would go for a walk or resume cleaning or cooking.

Gareth and Kevin remained in contact with the FCO and for some of that time with Alistair Burt, the Foreign Officer minister, at that time. I spoke with Mr Burt on the first night, he explained how sorry he was and reassured me that they were doing everything they could. He also assured me that he would remain in contact and promised to call me at a set time the next day. I didn’t doubt that they were doing the best they could, and in fact it wasn’t until the inquest well over a year later that I came to understand the full extent of work that Scotland Yard had put into managing the whole crisis and piecing together the events as they happened. A huge task, not only dealing with the survivors but making sure that the bodies of those who died were repatriated back to the UK, and in our case trying to locate Steve’s body.

Nonetheless, Mr Burt, from my perspective, was an immense disappointment in regard to his handling of this crisis at a personal level. He was a minister doing his ministerial duties and no more. He didn’t call back the next day or ever again. He never personally apologised for this, which was very important to me. Aren’t ministers they supposed to be in a position of trust, to be an advocate for the people? Isn’t that why we elect our MP’s?

That first night I remember going to bed with my sister, and not sleeping. I had left my phone with Kevin and Gareth; they promised that if a text came through they would wake me. When I came down early the next morning there had been no texts.

On that same morning, Sky news reported that the Algerian Military had gone into the campsite using gun-ship helicopters , shooting indiscriminately at people. Sky news kept reporting on this as a battle with unknown numbers of casualties. Later that day, David Cameron gave a press conference warning that there would be “multiple” British casualties and that the attack had happened without consultation from the Algerian Government. I think it was then that I felt that Steve had been killed.

It was now simply a waiting game. This feeling of despair grew further because by this stage two police officers who were Family Liaison Officers (FLO) had arrived at the house. They were to be my assigned FLO team for the next two years. I know enough from TV and books that often they only become involved when the news is looking grim. They had come to collect a recent photo of Steve and took a toothbrush, the name of Steve’s dentist and shaving kit away to get DNA samples.

 

When they left my earlier convictions that Steve had been killed were confirmed, and I started to prepare myself for the worst. It was then that I had asked Kevin to break the “bad news” to us personally, when it came. This was important for me because in this short period of time I felt total trust in both Kevin and Gareth. Kevin did complete the unenviable task on the third day and shortly afterwards they put their stuff together and departed.

After Kevin and Gareth left, the FLO team took over, which meant I had to develop a new relationship with a different team. Steve’s body was eventually found and he was repatriated on 10 February 2013. He was the last person to be repatriated home. For a long time afterwards the people I was most angry with were the Algerian government and military because they had failed to discuss any possibility of a peaceful end, or at least to work with other governments to minimise loss of life.

It seemed to me then and now that what they did was no better than the terrorists. Having come to understand how Scotland Yard were working at maintaining communication with the terrorists behind closed doors during the siege, I just feel that there was a channel of hope that was never able to materialise when the Algerian military moved in without due regard to life.

Whilst BP were at fault on many levels, for example in regard to providing a secure base for its employees to work on, the Algerian military did not allow BP to employ armed security guards on the campsite. The Algerian forces failed to provide the secure cover they claimed they were capable of providing in the event of an attack by terrorists. I find it difficult to understand how Western governments continue to do trade with countries that act in such isolated ways under such circumstances. You can imagine how it feels to learn that just one year after the event, David Cameron has set up key trading links with Algeria. Would such links improve working relationships between each country? I don’t personally believe so, from my perspective the crisis was an opportunity by the government to increase trade links that were rather weak before.

 

I have often wondered why terrorists to do what they do. I grew up for part of my life in Belfast and Derry and living in fear of IRA bomb attacks, of never feeling safe when I went out; I have seen the army use rubber bullets, and people stumbling around covered in blood, and water cannons being used to break up riots. I have seen full on battles of soldiers and people fighting the cause of freedom for Ireland, although I was never sure what all that meant when I was growing up. Why does religion and politics divide people?

Terrorist activity in African states has worryingly changed over many years from kidnap for ransom requests to cold-blooded killings filmed and put on various media portals so people can view human beings at their most barbaric. I looked on the internet for anything connected to the attack on In Amenas and was shocked and sickened by what people think is acceptable to put out for public viewing.

Shortly after Steve died I was fortunate to meet one of the survivors who had been in the Jeep with Steve the day he was killed. I remember listening to his story with a very sad and heavy heart. I wondered how this man sitting in front of me would ever recover from his horrific ordeal, and by talking with us he was trying to do what he thought would help Steve’s father find answers. It didn’t.

I am quite sure that big corporate businesses like BP could work more effectively with local people as well as governments in a much bigger and genuine way than they do now. Short-term counter-terrorism and policing strategies are critical to prevent the unexpected acts of terrorism, however it is universally acknowledged that longer-term approaches are essential.

 

These longer-term priorities include the need to address group grievances particularly in those countries where terrorism is rife, ending gross physical rights abuses by the state and improving access to justice and the rule of law. Extremist Islamic movements that encourage the use of terrorism need to be counteracted with moderate theologies within Islam that advocate other non-violent methods of addressing legitimate political grievances.

In 2013 alone, almost 10,000 terrorist incidents were recorded, resulting in approximately 18,000 deaths. The significant majority of these incidents, more than 60 per cent, occurred in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria; these countries have experienced a dramatic increase in the loss of life in 2013 with fatalities reaching 14,722 collectively. Excluding these five countries, in 2013 alone there were almost 4,000 attacks in the rest of the world killing 3,236 people.

Kevin and Gareth have worked hard to find ways in which we can learn from the In Amenas crisis, putting together After Action Reviews for negotiator teams so that their colleagues can benefit from their experience. As Kevin has asserted there will be another In Amenas event, it is just a matter of time. I have been fortunate to speak at a Negotiator Seminar and met many more police officers like them.

But before what happened to Steve, and the impact it had on my life, I had never really thought about the police and what they do. It must be a challenging job requiring a very specific type of person. Recently, Sir Bernard Hogan-How voiced his concerns about the impact that cut-backs would have on maintaining safe policing in the capital. His particular grievances are around the ability to detect and respond appropriately to potential or actual terrorist acts.

 

Yet in a relatively recent MORI poll where the public were asked what services they would most like to protect from spending cuts, 79 per cent chose to protect the NHS from spending cuts rather than the police force. I am sure that this figure remains low simply because probably fewer people have direct contact with crime/criminals than they do to health issues.

However, having seen so clearly the effect of good policing, and the impact it had on my life when I was at my most vulnerable, I know not only the threat of terrorism is very real but the importance of having proper systems in place as and when they happen. The very important role that the police have played in supporting me through the kidnap, murder and the subsequent piecing together of Stephen’s last hours, is the reason for my writing this story. The work they do cannot be underestimated.

Finally, I hope that when the Government eventually put up a memorial to remember and celebrate the lives of all those who have died through terrorism, they ask the families of those killed what such a memorial should look like. For me, this would include having a roll call of everyone killed through terrorist activity inscribed into stone. Even after I am long gone, Steve’s name will be there alongside many others, serving as a reminder of the ongoing brutality of war.