Twenty-five foreign hostages escape Algeria siege -source

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Twenty-five foreign hostages, including two Japanese, escaped from the siege of a gas plant deep in the Algerian desert on Thursday, an Algerian security source said.

A group calling itself the "Batallion of Blood" has said it was holding 41 foreigners inside the gas compound, which it stormed on Wednesday, demanding France halt a military campaign against Islamist rebels in neighbouring Mali.

(Reporting by Lamine Chikhi; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)