Kerry didn't raise Algeria attack, Baird says
Minister urged new secretary of state to back Keystone XL pipeline approval
The Canadian Press
Posted: Feb 4, 2013 3:01 PM ET
Last Updated: Feb 4, 2013 2:58 PM ET
John Kerry, the new secretary of state in the Obama administration, didn't raise any concerns about alleged Canadian involvement in last month's gas plant attack in Algeria, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Monday.
The issue simply didn't come up in the 15-minute telephone call he had on Sunday with the former Massachusetts senator, Baird said.
Canadian officials in Algiers haven't been able to corroborate the claim by Algeria's prime minister that at least one Canadian was among the terrorists who attacked and took hostages at the Saharan plant on Jan. 16, leading to a four-day siege that left at least 37 hostages and 29 militants dead.
The officials are conducting a "forensic" examination, Baird said, but offered no additional details.
Baird said he used the conversation with Kerry to make the case for State Department approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry Alberta oilsands bitumen to refineries in the southern U.S.
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