Washington, Rabi'I 7, 1434, Jan 19, 2013, SPA - The hostage situation in Algeria is an “extremely difficult and dangerous situation,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday. “No one knows better than Algeria how ruthless these groups are,” Hillary Clinton said at a joint press conference with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida at the State Department. “After all, they fought a very terrible war against them for a number of years with great loss of life. So we are staying in close touch with our Algerian partners and working with affected nations like our Japanese friends around the world to help end this crisis … But let’s not forget this is an act of terror.” Hillary Clinton said she spoke Friday with Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal to receive an update on the situation and to “underscore again that the utmost care must be taken to preserve innocent life.” “When I spoke with the prime minister again this morning, I urged the utmost care be taken in the protection of the hostages, Algerian and expatriate foreign hostages. He made clear that their operation was still ongoing, that the situation remained fluid, that the hostages remain in danger in a number of instances,” the U.S, Secretary of State said. --SPA 11:30 LOCAL TIME 08:30 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/1070017