Three attackers (rear R) stand guard in front of foreigners that were taken hostage, while Algerians (L) are left alone at an accommodation unit of the plant at a gas plant in In Amenas, in this photo secretly taken by one of the Algerians held hostage on January 16, 2013 and released by Kyodo on January 23, 2013. (REUTERS/Kyodo/Handout)

OTTAWA — RCMP personnel are now in Algeria working to confirm claims that at least one Islamist involved in a recent hostage-taking crisis there is a Canadian citizen, QMI Agency has learned.

The Mounties' presence in Algeria comes after Canadian officials sat down with Algeria's ambassador in Ottawa earlier this week to chew him out about the Algerian prime minister's claims.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says that while Canadian citizens have gone abroad in the past to participate in "jihadi extremism," he still hasn't seen anything from the Algerians to back their allegations.

"We haven't received any hard evidence that confirms whether Canadians were involved in the hostage-taking in Algeria," he said Thursday in Toronto.