Panetta: Terrorists will have ‘no place to hide’

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the United States is working with British officials “around the clock” to try and ensure the safe return of hostages in Algeria whose fate remains uncertain.

Panetta spoke in London at Kings College Friday, where he warned that terrorists would not be given a sanctuary in Algeria or anywhere else in northern Africa.

Anyone who tries to attack the United States will have “no place to hide,” Panetta said, according to The Associated Press.

“Terrorists should be on notice that they will find no sanctuary, no refuge,” he said in his speech, according to Stars and Stripes. “Not in Algeria, not in North Africa, not anywhere.”

Panetta also met in an unscheduled meeting Friday with British Prime Minister David Cameron, who had also spoken by phone with President Obama.

The U.S. Air Force was in the process of evacuating rescued Americans Friday, while at least one Texas man was reportedly unaccounted for.

---