US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said his country would take whatever moves necessary to protect its people from al-Qaeda-linked militants’ threats.

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said his country would take whatever moves necessary to protect its people from al-Qaeda-linked militants’ threats.

The outgoing Defense Secretary issued the warning in a BBC interview in London, declaring that the US would "take all necessary steps to protect our people" from the threat of militants in North Africa, who he alleged were tied to the shadowy al-Qaeda terrorist group.

"Whether or not that involves assisting others with military operations, whether it involves developing in a cooperative way operations there, those are areas that I think remain to be decided,” Panetta further said.

Panetta was interviewed by state-owned British Broadcasting Corporation on the recent hostage crisis in Algeria, where Americans are reported to be part of a group of foreign workers killed or still held in captivity in a gas field owned by British Petroleum.

The head of the Pentagon is currently visiting Britain as part of his ongoing tour of European countries.