5 foreigners still missing at Algeria hostage site

IN AMENAS: Algerian authorities searched on Tuesday for five foreigners still missing and tried to identify seven charred bodies, days after a bloody hostage crisis, a security source said.

"Still no news about the five missing foreigners," the source told AFP, after Algerian special forces launched a final assault on Saturday against Islamist gunmen at the remote desert gas plant where they seized hundreds of hostages.

Thirty-seven foreigners of eight different nationalities and an Algerian were killed in the siege by the hostage-takers, who were demanding the release of Islamist prisoners and an end to France's intervention in Mali.

Announcing the grim body count on Monday, Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal did not specify the nationalities of the slain foreigners, and said seven of them remain unidentified, adding that five foreigners were still missing.

A plane of Norwegian experts arrived in Algiers on Tuesday to help with identifying the victims, with five Norwegians unaccounted for.

"The gas complex is so big that we are still in the process of looking for bodies, especially those of missing foreigners," said an official at the sprawling In Amenas plant, 1,300 kilometres southeast of Algiers.

At the hospital morgue in the nearby town, only the bodies of the militants remained, 21 of who were killed, along with three others captured during the final assault launched against them.

Another security source said of those found alive, two were Algerian and one Tunisian.

A source close to hardline Islamist groups said the militants, most of who were thought to have entered Algeria from Libya, and reportedly used Libyan weapons, received logistical aid from Islamists based there.

"Logistical support was provided from Libya," said the source close to hardline Islamist groups in Libya, which has seen a rise in extremism since the fall of Colonel Moamer Kadhafi.

He did not specify the exact nature of such aid but acknowledged Libyan Islamists were responsible for establishing contacts between the captors and the media.

Harrowing accounts of the siege have emerged, with survivors recalling how fellow hostages were brutally executed, among them citizens of Japan, which grieved on Tuesday over its greatest loss of life at militant hands since 9/11.

A government plane was to leave Japan late Tuesday bound for Algeria. It was expected to return on Thursday with survivors and the bodies of those killed, all of whom were employees or contractors for Japanese engineering firm JGC.

There was blanket media coverage of the news that at least seven Japanese nationals had been killed in the Algerian hostage crisis, with the respected business daily Nikkei describing Japan's anger as "overwhelming".

Three other Japanese remained unaccounted for.

Some foreign governments, and Tokyo in particular, initially voiced concern over Algeria's response to the crisis, which many observers found hasty, but criticism then focused on the Islamist militants behind the hostage crisis.

The government has said its special forces managed to free 685 Algerian and 107 foreign hostages, most of them on Thursday, during their first rescue operation.

The In Amenas plant, part of a natural-gas industry vital to Algeria's economy and which is jointly run by three firms including Britain's BP, was being brought back on stream on Tuesday, according to the security source.

Security has been heavily beefed up at the plant, which is being guarded by the army, while security has been doubled at other energy installations across the country.

"Work to restart the complex has begun," the source said, after a demining and clearance operation at the desert complex was completed.

"But we will have to wait for a week before everything returns to normal," he added, as there were complicated technical procedures involved in resuming gas production.

Algeria's Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi had said on Sunday that the wet gas plant would restart "in the next two days," adding the damage caused during the four-day crisis was "not significant".

Employees not being treated for shock have been called back to the plant to help with restarting it and specialists have also been brought in from other sites, the security source said.

- AFP/jc

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'My brother didn't deserve to die'

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: A former plant worker aided militant attackers, Algeria says


• The Texas man killed in the Algeria plant standoff loved Africa, his daughter says


• "I'll be angry for a long time," Victor Lovelady's brother says


• The White House again backs the Algerian response

(CNN) -- Victor Lovelady, ever the family man, was excited about the job.

The money was good, sure, but he also got 28 days off for every 28 days he put in, time he could spend with his wife and two children.

Yes, it was in a remote natural gas facility in Algeria, but the Nederland, Texas, man assured his family it was safe. And it was in Africa, a place Lovelady seemed to love.

"He felt something there," his daughter, Erin, told reporters Tuesday. "He was so excited to go there. I don't really know why, but he just loved it."

Just 10 days after he returned to the sprawling In Amenas complex from a visit home, terrorists sped in on pickups, overtook the compound and made hostages of its workers, including Lovelady.

By the time the standoff ended, four days later, Lovelady had become one of three Americans and one of 37 hostages in all who lost their lives. He was 57.

"It's just unfair," Lovelady's brother, Mike Lovelady, said Tuesday. "My brother didn't deserve to die."

In addition to Lovelady, Americans Gordon Lee Rowan and Frederick Buttaccio also died. Seven U.S. citizens survived the crisis, the State Department said. It did not elaborate, citing privacy concerns.

Like Lovelady, Rowan, too, felt safe working there.

He said "we're in a compound in the middle of nowhere, and we've got security, and I'll be fine," Rowan's former neighbor, Gwen Eckholm, told CNN affiliate KNXV-TV in Phoenix. "I guess you can't really be secure any place."

Still waiting for answers

Nearly a week after the attack began, families and governments around the world were waiting Tuesday for the Algerian government to provide a full accounting of the dead and missing.

The search continued for five workers Algerian authorities say remain missing after the North African country's special forces stormed the compound Saturday in a bloody raid that left most of the terrorists and their remaining captives dead.

Meanwhile, Algerian authorities hailed as a hero the only one of their countrymates among the hostages who died in the attack. While few details about his contribution were available Tuesday, Algerian authorities said he had raised the alarm that allowed plant workers to shut down operations and go into hiding.

Militants shot the man between the eyes just as he alerted plant workers of the attack, Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said.

The targeted gas facility is run by Algeria's state oil company, in cooperation with foreign firms such as Norway's Statoil and Britain's BP. Some 790 people worked there, including 134 foreign workers.

The attack began at dawn January 16 -- in retaliation, Algeria said, for the country allowing France to use its airspace for an offensive against Islamist militants in neighboring Mali.

Regional analysts said that would appear to be unlikely -- the operation was too sophisticated to have been planned in the few days between France's intervention in Mali and the attack on the gas plant.

The attackers, Algerian officials said, drew on the expertise of a driver from Niger who had once worked at the plant.

On Thursday, Algerian special forces moved in after the government concluded the militants planned to blow up the gas installation and flee to Mali with the foreigners as hostages.

One former hostage, Mohadmed Aziri, told state-run Chinese broadcaster CCTV about militants flooding into the compound, taking it over bit by bit, searching door to door for workers. He also described rescue efforts.

"The experience was too terrible. I heard the sounds of gunshot, bullets hitting doors," he told CCTV. "I heard the governmental forces and terrorists fighting in the distance. Judging from the sounds of gunfire, the fighting was very intense."

The incursion succeeded in freeing some hostages -- but not all -- and several of them died.

Lovelady survived Thursday's raid.

'We felt in our hearts that he was coming home'

And if his family knew him at all, he was likely biding his time, coolly trying to find a way to help himself and others out of the unthinkable predicament they found themselves in.

"He wouldn't be the person who is crying and screaming and begging," Erin Lovelady said.

And after the initial exhilarating news, Lovelady's family felt sure he would pull through.

"We all believed, we felt in our hearts that he was coming home," his daughter said.

But then, on Saturday, Algerian special forces backed by helicopter gunships raided the plant for a second time. They finished off the militants but were unable to save the remaining hostages. Militants may have executed them, Mike Lovelady said he'd been told.

The news, Erin Lovelady said, was "devastating."

Read more: Bloody Algeria hostage crisis ends after 'final' assault, officials say

Mike Lovelady said he's angry with the terrorists who took the compound his brother thought was safe, resulting in the deaths of people who had traveled there merely to make a better living for their families.

But he said things maybe could have been different had Algeria allowed U.S. or British special operations forces to take over.

Maybe, Mike Lovelady said, the U.S. Navy SEALS or Britain's Special Air Service commandos could have taken out the militants while sparing the hostages.

"We all feel it could have been handled differently," he said.

However, Algeria's interior ministry said security forces were compelled to intervene quickly "to avoid a bloody turning point of events in this extremely dangerous situation." Officials said Monday that had the terrorists succeeded in blowing up the plant, it would have caused death and destruction in a 5-kilometer (3.1 mile) radius.

On Tuesday, U.S. officials reiterated their support for Algerian officials.

"The blame for this tragedy rests with the terrorists who carried it out," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

Pentagon spokesman George Little said U.S. officials believe al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb was likely responsible for the attack.

The attackers came from eight countries, the Algerian government has said: Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Mali, Niger, Canada and Mauritania.

Read more: Nations scramble to account for missing after Algeria hostage crisis

As the family awaits the return of Lovelady's body, and more answers about how he died, Mike Lovelady said he's determined not to let his brother's legacy die with him.

He said he intends to press Congress to keep up the fight against terrorism.

"I'll be angry for a long time," he said.

CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki, Hamdi Alkhshali, Greg Botelho and Michael Pearson contributed to this report.

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40 years ago today: Cronkite breaks news of LBJ's death on television

(CBS News) Tuesday marks the 40th anniversary of former President Lyndon B. Johnson's death. The day also made television history when Walter Cronkite announced the news while talking to the former president's press secretary on the phone live on air.

On January 22, 1973, Cronkite held the phone receiver to his ear on the CBS "Evening News" and said he is talking to Tom Johnston, LBJ's top spokesman.

"Can you hold the line just a second?" Cronkite says into the receiver, before explaining that the former president died in an ambulance plane on his way to San Antonio, Texas.

CBS News anchor Scott Pelley will remember Johnson and replay the historical clip on the "Evening News" Tuesday night.

Obama Remembers Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite: The "maestro" of news
Remembering Walter Cronkite
Watch: Inside LBJ's private calls
Writer: LBJ changed "in a moment" after JFK death

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Lone Star College Evacuated After Shots Fired

A shooting on the campus of Lone Star College in Houston, Texas, this afternoon caused the school to be locked down and evacuated while police searched for suspects.

The college said today that shots were fired on the campus and at least two people were shot. Two individuals with multiple gunshot wounds are in serious condition at Ben Taub Hospital, according to ABC News affiliate KTRK.

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Police have a suspect in custody and are searching for a man about 6-foot-2 wearing an Atlanta Falcons hat.

Emergency reponders are currently on campus.

The shooting comes only a month after the massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Conn., in which 20 students and six staff members were shot, sparking a wave of attempted copycat crimes in states like California and Indiana.

The Connecticut shooting inspired calls from government officials including President Obama for stricter gun control laws.

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How Obama made opportunity real

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• LZ Granderson: Specifics of Obama's first term may not be remembered


• He says his ability to win presidency twice is unforgettable


• Granderson: Obama, the first black president, makes opportunity real for many


• He says it makes presidency a possibility for people of all backgrounds

Editor's note: LZ Granderson, who writes a weekly column for CNN.com, was named journalist of the year by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and is a 2011 Online Journalism Award finalist for commentary. He is a senior writer and columnist for ESPN the Magazine and ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter: @locs_n_laughs.

(CNN) -- In his first term, President Barack Obama signed 654 bills into law, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by about 70% and the national debt by $5.8 trillion.

And in 10 years -- maybe less -- few outside of the Beltway will remember any of that. That's not to suggest those details are not important. But even if all of his actions are forgotten, Obama's legacy as the first black president will endure.

And even though this is his second term and fewer people are expected to travel to Washington this time to witness the inauguration, know that this moment is not any less important.

LZ Granderson

Obama's address: Full text

For had Obama not been re-elected, his barrier-breaking election in 2008 could have easily been characterized as a charismatic politician capturing lightning in a bottle. But by becoming the first president since Dwight Eisenhower to win at least 51% of the vote twice, Obama proved his administration was successful.

And not by chance, but by change.

A change, to paraphrase Martin Luther King Jr., that was not inevitable but a result of our collective and continuous struggle to be that shining city on a hill of which President Ronald Reagan spoke so often.

For much of this country's history, being a white male was a legal prerequisite to being president. Then it was accepted as a cultural norm. Because of that, we could not be the country we set out to be.

But today, somewhere in the Midwest, there is a little Asian-American girl with the crazy idea she could be president one day, and because of Obama, she knows that idea is not very crazy at all.

That's power -- the kind of power that can fade urgent numbers and debates of the day into the background of history.

Gergen: Obama 2.0 version is smarter, tougher

Few remember the number of steps Neil Armstrong took when he landed on the moon, but they remember he was the first human being who stepped on the moon. Few can tell you how many hits Jackie Robinson had in his first Major League Baseball game, but they know he broke baseball's color barrier. Paying homage to a person being first at something significant does not diminish his or her other accomplishments. It adds texture to the arc of their story.

I understand the desire not to talk about race as a way of looking progressive.

But progress isn't pretending to be color blind, it's not being blinded by the person's color.

Or gender.

Or religion.

Or sexual orientation.

Somewhere in the South, there is an openly gay high schooler who loves student government and wants to be president someday. And because of Obama, he knows if he does run, he won't have to hide.

That does not represent a shift in demographics, but a shift in thought inspired by a new reality. A reality in which the president who follows Obama could be a white woman from Arkansas by way of Illinois; a Cuban-American from Florida; or a tough white guy from Jersey. Or someone from an entirely different background. We don't know. Four years is a long time away, and no one knows how any of this will play out -- which I think is a good thing.

'Obama: We are made for this moment'

For a long time, we've conceived of America as the land of opportunity. Eight years ago, when it came to the presidency, that notion was rhetoric. Four years ago, it became a once in a lifetime moment. Today, it is simply a fact of life.

Ten years from now, we may not remember what the unemployment rate was when Obama was sworn in a second time, but we'll never forget how he forever changed the limits of possibility for generations to come.

Somewhere out West, there is an 80-year-old black woman who never thought she'd see the day when a black man would be elected president. Somehow I doubt Obama's second inauguration is less important to her.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson.

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Obama issues inaugural call for unity, equality

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama issued a impassioned call for equality and national unity as he was inaugurated for a second term Monday, warning political "absolutism" must not thwart renewal and change.

Obama was publicly sworn in for another four White House years before a flag waving crowd of hundreds of thousands on Washington's National Mall. Then he delivered an address steeped in poetic power and broad hints of his new agenda.

The 44th president repeatedly used the "We the People" preamble to the US Constitution to suggest how to reconcile America's founding truths and the current discord and dysfunction of its embittered political system.

"Decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay," said Obama with the freedom of a leader who no longer needs to face voters, and the urgency of a president who knows that second-term powers soon wane.

"We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect," Obama declared.

Though his speech was watched across the globe, Obama sketched over foreign policy, disdaining "perpetual war" and promising diplomacy of engagement backed with military steel -- though did not dwell on specific crises like Iran.

"We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully -- not because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear."

While reaching for a soaring note of national unity, Obama's address, delivered from the flag-draped West Front of the US Capitol, was laced with liberal ideology, and augured policies certain to enrage Republicans.

Signs of intent on issues like gun control and climate change may also worry those Democrats who must run for re-election in conservative territory in 2014 mid-term polls, and who may hold the fate of Obama's agenda in their hands

In an apparent bid to frame his legacy, Obama said America must shield the weak, the poor and those lacking health care and demanded equality for all races and gay rights, and security from gun crime for children.

"Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law -- for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well," Obama said.

"Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity," he said, signaling a policy drive on a deeply contentious issue.

"Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm."

Obama also vowed the meet the threat of global warming, despite skepticism on climate change among some Republicans and daunting political and economic barriers to taking meaningful action.

Obama's most emphatic Republican foes welcomed his reach for unity but like the president, hinted at deep ideological divides.

"The President's second term represents a fresh start when it comes to dealing with the great challenges of our day; particularly, the transcendent challenge of unsustainable federal spending and debt," said Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell.

Defeated Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan congratulated Obama on his inauguration and said for the occasion they would put their differences aside because "we serve the same country, one that is still in need of repair."

Earlier, the president raised his right hand and rested his left on Bibles once owned by Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln, on an outdoor platform underneath the gleaming white dome of the Capitol.

"I Barack Hussein Obama ..." the 44th president said, vowing to faithfully execute his office and to "preserve, protect and defend the constitution," led in the oath of office by black-robed Chief Justice John Roberts.

Speaking to AFP, Republican senator John McCain damned the address with faint praise.

"I thought it was an excellent speech, delivery was obviously excellent," McCain said. "I didn't hear any conciliatory remarks associated with it, but that's his privilege."

Obama, his smile flashing bright, appeared more relaxed than at his first inauguration four years ago, when he took office as an untested and inexperienced leader as an economic depression threatened.

Bundled-up Obama supporters earlier trekked into town to join snaking lines for Secret Service checkpoints guarding a steel-fenced secure zone around the White House and the inaugural parade route.

After his speech Obama dined on bison and lobster with VIP members of Congress before heading back to the White House on the inaugural parade route.

One Obama supporter, the Reverend Ruddie Mingo, 54 -- who donated time and money to the president's winning campaign against Republican Mitt Romney -- admitted the festivities were less mobbed than four years ago.

"My hope is that his next four years we can get more stuff accomplished on both sides," he said.

Obama took the oath for a first time Sunday in a private ceremony at the White House because the constitution states that US presidential terms end at noon on January 20.

Poignantly, Obama took his second, second term oath of office on the federal holiday marking civil rights pioneer King's birthday.

- AFP/ck

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3 Americans killed in Algeria

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: U.S. State Department identifies three citizens killed in the Algeria gas plant standoff


• Britain's prime minister praises Algerian forces that ended the standoff


• At least 37 hostages died in terrorist attack and raid on gas complex, Algeria says


• The attackers came from northern Mali, an Algerian official says

(CNN) -- At least 37 hostages died in the terrorist seizure of, and ensuing special forces assault on, a natural gas plant in Algeria, the country's prime minister said Monday.

Five other hostages are missing from the In Amenas complex and could be dead, Prime Minister Abdul Malek Sallal said.

Before Sallal's statement Monday, other countries and companies that employed foreign workers at the sprawling plant had confirmed a total of 29 hostage deaths.

Among the dead were three Americans, State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland said Monday. She identified them as Victor Lynn Lovelady, Gordon Lee Rowan, and Frederick Buttaccio, who had been previously identified.

The Algerian state-run news service APS said 29 militants also died in the standoff, which ended Saturday after four days when Algerian special forces stormed the complex for the second time to free hostages. The government said it did so because the militants were planning to blow up the installation and flee to neighboring Mali with hostages.

"If it exploded, it could have killed and destroyed anything within 5 kilometers or further," Sallal said.

The plant employed 790 people, including 134 foreign workers, Sallal said Monday.

Read more: Bloody Algeria hostage crisis ends after 'final' assault, officials say

The crisis began Wednesday when militants in pickup trucks struck a sprawling natural gas complex in In Amenas, gathered the Westerners who worked there into a group and tied them up.

After taking control of the facility, the well-armed militants planted explosives throughout the complex, Sallal said.

The military tried to negotiate with the militants, but their demands to release militants held prisoner in Algeria were deemed unreasonable, leading to intervention by special forces troops backed by the Algerian Air Force, Sallal said.

Read more: Nations scramble to account for missing after Algeria hostage crisis

At one point, the militants tried to flee the compound in vehicles that carried explosives and three or four hostages as human shields, Sallal said. At least two of the vehicles flipped and exploded during the attempt, he said.

The attack involved months of planning and involved militants from eight countries -- Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Mali, Niger, Canada and Mauritania, according to APS.

Sallal said the terrorist team that took the hostages had entered the country from northern Mali, where Malian and French authorities are battling Islamists who control the area.

One-eyed veteran Islamist fighter Mokhtar Belmokhtar has claimed responsibility for the hostage-taking on behalf of his al Qaeda-linked group, according to Mauritania's Sahara Media news agency.

He said it was in retaliation for Algeria allowing France to use its airspace to battle Islamist militants in Mali. But regional analysts believe the operation was too sophisticated to have been planned so quickly.

The plant in eastern Algeria is run by the state oil company, in cooperation with foreign firms such as Norway's Statoil and Britain's BP -- and as such, employed workers from several foreign countries.

Read more: Algerian forces seek 'peaceful' settlement of dramatic, deadly hostage crisis

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday that the international effort to evacuate workers is complete and that offcials are turning their attention to gaining access to the plant and returning the bodies of the slain British hostages to Great Britain.

Cameron also praised Algerian forces for their work in ending the crisis, and said they have no responsibility for the deaths that occurred as forces tried to regain control of the plant.

"This would have been a most demanding task for security forces anywhere in the world, and we should acknowledge the resolve shown by the Algerians in undertaking it," Cameron said. "Above all, the responsibility for these deaths lies squarely with the terrorists."

Here is the latest breakdown on the international hostages:

Colombia

Colombia's president said a citizen was presumed dead.

France

No known French hostages are unaccounted for, the defense ministry said.

A man identified as Yann Desjeux died after telling French newspaper Sud Ouest that he and 34 other hostages were treated well. It was unclear what led to his death.

Japan

Ten Japanese remain unaccounted for, according to JGC, a Yokohama-based engineering firm. Japan is sending a second team that includes doctors to the scene of the standoff. Other government officials have been at the site since last week.

Malaysia

Three hostages were on their way back home, state media reported. There is a "worrying possibility" that another is dead while a fifth is unaccounted for, the agency said.

Read more: Algeria attack may have link to Libya camps

Norway

Five Norwegians are missing, while eight are safe, according to the Norwegian Prime Minister.

Philippines

Six Filipinos are confirmed dead and four are missing, the nation's foreign affairs ministry said. In addition, 16 Filipinos are accounted for and confirmed alive, according to a ministry spokesman.

Romania

One Romanian lost his life while four others were freed, the country's foreign ministry said.

United Kingdom

Three British citizens were killed, the Foreign Office said Sunday. Three other British nationals and a UK resident are also "believed dead," according to British officials. The Foreign Office confirmed the name of one of the slain hostages, Garry Barlow, in a statement Monday.

"Garry was a loving, devoted family man, he loved life and lived it to the full. He was very much loved by myself, his sons, mother and sister and the rest of his family and friends and will be greatly missed," the Foreign Office quoted his wife, Lorraine, as saying.

Twenty-two other Britons who were taken hostage have safely returned home.

United States

While three Americans died, seven U.S. citizens survived the attack, Nuland said Tuesday. Beyond identifying the dead, she declined further comment, citing privacy considerations.

Read more: Algeria attack may have link to Libya camps

CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki contributed to this report.

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Official: 3 Americans total died in Algeria attack

Updated at 2:53 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON Three U.S. citizens were killed in last week's hostage standoff at a natural gas complex in Algeria, while seven Americans made it out safely, the State Department said Monday.

The State Department confirmed that gas workers Victor Lynn Lovelady and Gordon Lee Rowan were killed at the Ain Amenas gas field in the Sahara. U.S. officials identified Texas resident Frederick Buttaccio last week.

"We extend our deepest condolences to their families and friends," department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.

"The blame for this tragedy rests with the terrorists who carried it out, and the United States condemns their actions in the strongest possible terms," she added. "We will continue to work closely with the government of Algeria to gain a fuller understanding of the terrorist attack of last week and how we can work together moving forward to combat such threats in the future."

Lovelady's family told CBS affiliate KFDM-TV in Beaumont, Texas, Monday that the FBI informed them Saturday of his death.

Militants who attacked the Ain Amenas gas field in the Sahara had offered to release Lovelady and Rowan in exchange for the freedom of two prominent terror suspects jailed in the United States: Omar Abdel Rahman, a blind sheik convicted of plotting to blow up New York City landmarks and considered the spiritual leader of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani scientist convicted of shooting at two U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.

The Obama administration rejected the offer outright.

Last week's desert siege began Wednesday when Mali-based, al Qaeda-linked militants attempted to hijack two buses at the plant, were repelled, and then seized the gas refinery. They said the attack was retaliation for France's recent military intervention against Islamist rebels in neighboring Mali, but the captured militants told Algerian officials it took two months to plan.

Five Americans had been taken out of the country before Saturday's final assault by Algerian forces against the militants.

A U.S. official had told The Associated Press the remaining two Americans survived the four-day crisis at an insecure oil rig at the facility. They were flown out to London on Saturday.

The State Department's Nuland confirmed that seven Americans made it out safely, but said she couldn't provide further details because of privacy considerations.

Algeria says 38 hostages of all nationalities and 29 militants died in the standoff. Five foreign workers remain unaccounted for.

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President Obama Calls for 'Collective Action'

Invoking the nation's founding values, President Obama marked the start of his second term today with a sweeping call for "collective action" to confront the economic and social challenges of America's present and future.

"That is our generation's task, to make these words, these rights, these values -- of life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness -- real for every American," Obama said in an inaugural address delivered from the west front of the U.S. Capitol.

"Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life; it does not mean we will all define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow the same precise path to happiness. Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time," he said, giving nod to the yawning partisan divide.

"But it does require us to act in our time."

The call to action, on the eve of what's shaping up to be another contentious term with Republicans and Congress, aimed to reset the tone of debate in Washington and turn the page on the political battles of the past.

"For now decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate," Obama said. "We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect."

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo

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The address, lasting a little less than 20 minutes, laid out in broad terms Obama's vision for the next four years, alluding to looming policy debates on the war in Afghanistan, deficit reduction, immigration, and overhaul of Social Security and Medicare.

Obama also became the first president, at least in recent inaugural history, to make explicit mention of equality for gay and lesbian Americans. He made repeated mentions of "climate change," something no president has said from such a platform before.

The president stuck closely to his campaign themes, offering few new details of his policy proposals, however. Those are expected to come next month in the State of the Union address Feb. 12.

"A decade of war is now ending. An economic recovery has begun. America's possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive; diversity and openness; an endless capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention," Obama said, sounding optimistic tones.

"We are made for this moment, and we will seize it," he said, "so long as we seize it together."

Hundreds of thousands packed the National Mall in chilly 40-degree temperatures and brisk wind to hear Obama's remarks and witness the ceremonial swearing-in. While the crowds were smaller than four years ago, the U.S. Park Police said the Mall reached capacity and was closed shortly before Obama took the podium.

Shortly before the address, Obama placed his left hand on the stacked personal Bibles belonging to President Abraham Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and raised his right to repeat the oath administered by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

"I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States," he said, "and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Obama and Biden were both officially sworn in during private ceremonies Sunday, Jan. 20, the date mandated by the Constitution for presidents to begin their terms.

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Obama's speech: Learn from Lincoln

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Julian Zelizer: Second term inaugural addresses are always a challenge


• He says the public has had four years to make a judgment about the president


• Obama can learn from second term speeches of Lincoln, Wilson, FDR


• Zelizer says they did a good job of unifying America and sketching vision of the future

Editor's note: Julian Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He is the author of "Jimmy Carter" and of "Governing America."

(CNN) -- The second inaugural address is always more difficult than the first. When a president-elect first steps onto the national stage, he still enjoys a certain degree of innocence and hope. Americans are waiting to see if the new president will be different. When a new president delivers his speech, voters don't yet have a record that might make them cynical.

But by the second term, voters are familiar, and often tired, with the occupant of the White House. Even though they liked him more than his opponents, the president has usually been through some pretty tough battles and his limitations have been exposed. It becomes much harder to deliver big promises, when the people watching have a much clearer sense of your limitations and of the strength of your opponents.

Julian Zelizer

So President Barack Obama faces a big test when he appears before the nation Monday.

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Obama now is Washington, and no longer someone who will be able to shake up the way Washington works. Voters believe that Congress is dysfunctional and have little confidence that legislators will respond to his proposals.

Overseas, the instability and violence in the Middle East has shaken the confidence of many Americans that Obama can achieve the kind of transformative change he promised back in 2009.

Obama, who is a student of history, can look back at some past second inaugural addresses if he wants guidance. Three of the best of these addresses offer a roadmap.

Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865: The strongest was from Lincoln, who gave his talk amid the brutality of the Civil War but chose to stress the theme of healing and unity, Lincoln gave a masterful performance that offered inspiration and encouragement for the reunification of the nation. Lincoln famously said: "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." Rather than boasting of military victory or threatening Southern forces, he stepped outside the battle to offer the nation, as a whole, the path forward.

Woodrow Wilson, March 5, 1917: Although Wilson had run on a campaign to keep America out of world war, he was aware that such intervention was inevitable. During his second inaugural address, Wilson took the opportunity to start preparing the nation for what was about to come. He told America to think about the global responsibilities it had to accept, even if much of the nation was not prepared to do so. "We are provincials no longer," he said, "The tragic events of the thirty months of vital turmoil which we have just passed have made us citizens of the world. There can be no turning back."

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Franklin Roosevelt, January 20, 1937: Roosevelt gave a rousing performance that outlined the fundamental vision which shaped the wide array of policies he had put forward in his first term. While many people had criticized FDR for lacking any ideology and for being a pragmatist without principle, in his second address he explained the rationale behind his actions: "I see millions denied education, recreation, and the opportunity to better their lot and the lot of their children. I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished." For Democrats, the speech remains a powerful defense of government and the rationale behind his program.

To replicate some of this success, Obama will need to figure out how to inspire a nation that is frustrated by the gridlock of Washington and the laggard state of the economy and worried about instability overseas.

Obama can learn from all three of these presidents.

Like Wilson, he can talk to Americans about goals they should aspire to achieve, ways in which the country can accept new obligations in a changing world.

Like Lincoln, he can urge the nation to move beyond the discord and division that has characterized political debate in the past four years.

Finally, like Roosevelt, he can use his speech to provide some of the justification and outlook that has shaped his policies. This would undercut the ability of Republicans to define his policies for him, as has been the case for much of his first term, and motivate supporters who have often felt that Obama remained too much of a mystery.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Julian Zelizer.

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