The White House, for its part, has firmly pinned the blame for the civilian deaths on the hostage takers.
His reports documented how Russian special forces pumped lethal gas into the theatre auditorium to subdue the hostage takers before storming in.
CNN: CNN Profiles - Matthew Chance - Senior International Correspondent
"Regardless of the motivation of the hostage takers, there is no justification for the kidnapping and murder of innocent people, " he said.
America said all 32 countries in the multinational force in Iraq had agreed to make no further concessions to hostage takers .
In 1994, French anti-terrorist police stormed a hijacked jet at Marseille, killing all four Islamic fundamentalist hostage takers and saving the lives of some 170 passengers and crew.
But, on the other hand, the military, the joint task force, which is a military outfit based in the Delta to patrol the swamps and creeks, seems to be less sure about the whereabouts of these hostage takers.
The Algerian authorities had said on Saturday that all 32 hostage-takers had been killed.
Algerian military forces were surrounding the building holding the hostage-takers and the hostages, Qabliyeh said.
It had initially been unclear whether the bodies found were those of hostage-takers or staff at the facility.
The crisis started after hostage-takers attacked a gas plant at Tigantourine, near In Amenas, in the Sahara desert on Wednesday 16 January, Algerian officials said.
Some 29 of the hostage-takers died, while three were captured by Algerian troops during a special forces mission to end the four-day stand-off which began on 16 January.
Ruslan Aushev, a former president of Ingushetia who had briefly negotiated with the hostage-takers, told a Russian newspaper later that they had called him asking for a ceasefire.
The leader of the hostage-takers was a veteran fighter from Niger, named as Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri by the Mauritanian news agency ANI, which had been in contact with the militants.
Seven hostages were killed by their captors during a final raid by Algerian troops - at least 23 hostages and 32 hostage-takers died in the four-day stand-off, Algerian officials say.
Our correspondent says the rumours are fuelling speculation that a meeting of senior executives was being held at the plant at the time, and could have been the hostage-takers' intended target.
Mr Le Drian also said during his interview that seven French citizens who had been taken hostage in Niger and Mali in recent years "are alive", and there had been "contacts with hostage-takers".
The leader of the hostage-takers is said to be a veteran fighter from Niger, named as Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri by the Mauritanian news agency ANI, which has been in contact with the militants.
Security experts understood there had been positive diplomatic moves behind the scenes, including the release of a prisoner - whose freedom was being demanded by the hostage-takers - from detention by the Americans.
An audio recording of Algerian security forces speaking with the head of the kidnappers, Abdel Rahman al-Nigiri, on the second day of the drama indicated the hostage-takers were trying to organize a prisoner swap.
South Korea, meanwhile, pleaded with the international community to set aside the normal practice of refusing to negotiate with hostage-takers, and relatives of some of the remaining hostages appealed for U.S. help in freeing their loved ones.
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